Walking by the Prince Theater at 9 a.m. on a Sunday and you will wonder, “What are all those lights doing on so early?” That’s because Freedom Church is preparing for their weekly Sunday morning worship at [continue reading…]
The Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary had the privilege of hosting Pope Francis for a night when he arrived in Philadelphia. “I think the mood before he came was one of anticipation and unknowing,” said Deacon Matthew Biedrzycki. [continue reading…]
The corner of Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street in Kensington is amongst the most notorious drug corners in the city. Heroin draws addicts and dealers, making it an open playing field for crime and violence, and [continue reading…]
In celebration of Pope Francis’ arrival in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, approximately 3,000 Vietnamese Roman Catholics gathered at Cardinal Dougherty High School to celebrate. “That’s not a church,” objected one child as [continue reading…]
People all over the world have anticipated the arrival of Pope Francis to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, which is the largest gathering of Catholic families in the world. One local South Philadelphia [continue reading…]
Unlike residents of Center City, the people of Hunting Park were somewhat unaffected by the visit of Pope Francis. People, for the most part, just carried on with their normal routines. Over the weekend church [continue reading…]
A church in Point Breeze set out to host more of a homecoming than a formal visit for a group of pilgrims traveling from Alabama to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia. The Aquinas Center, part of [continue reading…]
Students at Saint Joseph’s University were hoping at best to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis as his motorcade traveled down City Avenue. Many students were planning to gather together to watch the festivities on television. [continue reading…]
The Rev. Stephen Thorne began Mass at Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church Sunday, by asking the congregation to move up to the first few pews. Hesitantly, people rose and moved closer to the front. “Thank [continue reading…]
Hugh Taft-Morales didn’t expect this. “I knew it was going to be big,” he said. “It’s well beyond what I thought it was going to be. Clearly, Philadelphia’s got a lot of Catholic tradition and [continue reading…]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved. Philadelphia Neighborhoods: A program of the Department of Journalism at the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University.