>> on "america tonight": keeping the faith even when his love was rejected. >> the problem is that he is a hole owe sexual. letters. >> why is this permitted. >> "america tonight" merritt merritt's lori jane gliha. >> and the pope's words offer comfort. is he asking too much? >> the pope's message is one of giving assistance but pushing a political agenda saying, take the doors off and let everybody in. >> the holy father and the fate of the faithful.

thanks for joining us i'm joie chen. meet the pope. on the streets here in washington, d.c, this was a day for the people, as pope francis greeted the thousands who throng pennsylvania avenue for even a glimpse of the holy father. next, in front of the politicians as pope francis becomes the first pope to address a joint session of congress. the expectation is that he will speak as firmly as in front of european leaders, on climate change, racial justice and the plight of immigrants. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> at home with her guitar she sings of gratitude and the unwavering faith that got her through her darkest days.

>> for el salvador, guatemala,. >> she joined the country side to rejoin her family in philadelphia. but she was arrested at the u.s. mexico border and sent to stay with her parents temporarily while immigration officials processed her deportation. so she stayed in north philadelphia, the constant worry of deportation hanging over their head. >> you were worried you would be sent home .

scary. >> with immigration agents closing in, she joined a group of immigrants in the sanctuary movement, preventing raids of sensitive locations like schools and churches. navarro and her family found haven in a church. >> this is your sanctuary. >> yes. >> safe but forced to remained inside the church.

navarro was warned she might have to remain in the self imposed prison for more than a >> during her stay, father john a member of the new sanctuary movement of north philadelphia, helped navarro's situation. >> they're looking for support, they're looking for a better life for themselves and for their children. >> immigration activists see a kindred spirit in francis, taking in refugees fleeing conflict in their countries. is expected to deliver a firm message on immigration on capitol hill. >> i expect pope francis is going to be very challenging

saying we are a country of immigrants and we really need to step up. just like he's challenged europe with the crisis of so many refugees of syria and iraq. >> is it right to conflate refugees and migrants as we know them in the u.s? >> no, i don't think it's the same thing. a migrant is coming into a new country to seek a better life. a refugee is escaping oppression or death, incorporate else to go. they have been bombed out of their homes forced out because of some calamity. those individuals we should help them as best as we can but there has to be a process. we can't just open the doors to the church and say anybody come in. >> michael's

institution, claims outside force he will manipulate the words of the holy father during his visit to the united states. >> i'm personally skeptical and concerned not so much about what the pope is going to say but how it is going to be reported. the pope's message is one of giving assistance but a lot are using it to push a political agenda to say hey, take the doors off and let everybody in. that's not responsible. >> at the same time, he says the kick them all out position donald trump and other politicians favor won't work. >> i want to build a wall, a wall that work. >> or in line with the church's teaching. the debate over immigration has led american priests to the front lined of protest. key politicians going public in the antiimmigrant campaigns in the weeks leading up to pope francis's visits.

while most of half hispanics have still identified and catholics, their numbers have dropped over the last decade. many are eager to hear the first latin american pope to speak up for them. >> immigrants have always gotten the blame. when you look at the history of our country that's not new. it's been going on since the very beginning, thricts catholie very much discriminated against especially the irish. >> earlier navarro and her family declared victory after immigration officials declared a two year hold on her deportation. she was able to leave the church. today navarro remains front and center in the debate, calling out trump for his aggressive comments about immigrants even

as she echoes pope francis's calls for forgiveness. >> when someone like donald trump or the other people who criticize those who protect the immigrants what do you say to them? >> she's keeping her hopes and prayers with god, and the pope. hoping he will encourage american parishes to do more to protect migrants and politicians to take some of the heat off them. >> why do they put so much attention? you? >> i don't know

. to se no se. >> a girl whose voice will be heard by pope francis although she probably won't be able to speak to him about her personal immigration journey, angela auditioned for and won a place for a multicultural choir that will sing for the pope this weekend next, an embracing pope but. and opening act, on the eve of the most divine performance of his career. >> i died and came back to life... but yet still wanted to get high. >> i have prostituted. >> for drugs? >> for drugs, yeah. >> we're dealing with the worst

drug epidemic in united states' history. >> she said "dad, please don't leave me here". i said "honey, i don't have any choice".

>> among the many surprises that pope francis has delivered in his first months in office, is the nuanced language towards gay and lesbians. his words, who am i to judge, raised the hopes of gay catholics but some remain in limb poa. limbo. as lori jane gliha glee had a reflection.

>> i have made numerous calls to your office which i believe have fallen on deaf ears. >> an anonymous parishioner sent the letter to the bishop. >> nicholas kapola -- >> nicholas keeps this copy in his personal files to remind him how he was pushed out at his neighborhood church. >> the problem is he is a homosexual, he was recently married to another man, he does not keep this silent, with all the catholic church is trying to stop this why is this permitted? >> when you read this for the first time what went through your head? >> like i said, at my age, it's very difficult to shock me so i got to be honest with you, i wasn't surprised, disappointed but not surprised. >> reporter: nicholas is openly gay and at the time the letter came in he was a member

of the parish at st. anthony's church in long island. >> what was it like when you set foot on this property? >> i actually had a very did feeling, never had a bad feeling, i was part of so many wonderful things. >> debilitating back pain, lifelong motivation, kept nicholas to get up out of bed. >> it gave me a purpose to get up in the morning, i had something to give back because i was unable to work. >> reporter: during that difficult time the pastor invited nicholas to play more significant role in regular services by assisting the priest and reading religious text at mass. nicholas was delighted for opportunity. >> you were a very active representative of the church in your volunteer work.

what did it mean to you, how welcome did you feel? >> i felt 100%. there was never a moment i did not feel welcome. >> that was until he got married to his long time love david and that letter arrived at the diocese. >> somebody writes a letter saying we don't like that there is a married gay man teaching catholic things in our church. and what happened to you as a result? >> i was removed completely from any and all active ministry and basically what he said is nick you're not allowed on the altar. >> the catholic church opposes gay marriage and teaches that marriage should be between one man and one woman and gay and lesbian is immoral.

>> it was a shock, i never felt discrimination that was directed at me 100%. this is the first time i had that experience. and it hurt. >> what did it feel like? >> it's a very difficult feeling to -- it's embarrassing. it's humiliating. it's sad. disappointing. it just any -- there are so many adjectives and there is not a positive adjective to it. >> why didn't you just walk away from the catholic faith and the catholic church after that experience? >> because it's my church. i was -- my parents baptized me, they raised me catholic. i was daniel italian americans. like italians can' don't want me, it is part of my identity and that's the way i feel. >> the church still allows nicholas to attend mass at st. anthony's but that doesn't ease his pain.

>> it's very difficult because one although i'm welcomed to celebrate in the liturgy, i cannot be an active member of the parish which makes it difficult because i believe our faith calls us to be an active member of the community which is to help people in the community. so although celebrating the mass i could come here but again it has been, for lack of a better word, poisoned, because of the liturgy here. >> he now attends st. xavier, it has an active gay ministry, he goes, even though it is an hour out of his way. he hasn't turned his back on his neighborhood parish or his faith. pope francis has given him a hope of the different day.

>> the day i heard it was a jesuit, i know they were supportive publicly and privately. there was something about him that i knew at that point that we were going to see good things and the words that followed proved to be true that he is a compassionate and a pastoral and loving poem and accepting pope and knows the church and understands the problems of the church. >> what do you think is the impact that he's made for gay and lesbian community? >> the fact that he's talking about it in open conversation that he's not ignoring it. he hasn't said okay gay people are welcome in the church, but yes, i believe the issue is more married gay people in the church. >> nicholas who has been friends with his partner for 25 years, says he was inspired when he said, who am i to judge when speaking about gays in 2013.

>> with this pope it's been very difficult not to be excited. not to be hopeful with the words you hear. we should be in front of the diocese. >> since them nicholas and other lgbt rights advocates, advocating for gay rights among catholics. >> what would you say to the pope if you had a chance to speak to him? >> there's so many things i would like to say, i want to come home, i want to come back without conditions, unconditionally. i don't want to be treated better than anybody else, lesser, just exactly the same way. >> while he enjoys the progressive church he attends now nicholas hopes one day his marriage will be recognized by

st. anthony's and he would be welcomed back into the ministry that he loves. >> to change the way parishes are so different and interact with the lgbt community. >> i think it's very simple. i think it comes down to a simple statement that we, the catholic church, welcomes lgbt people single and married. >> as pope francis continues his first-ever visit to the united states, many like nicholas are looking toward the progressive pope to put politics aside and reach out to lgbt catholics. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha is here. we mentioned earlier that nicholas was in fact invited to the white house to be partly of the pope's visit here but that still doesn't mean he's totally welcomed at his church? >> he's allowed to go to mass, it's about five minutes from his

church and he does go there ever once in a while to practice. he has invested a lot of energy and time, he helped them get a ga disee gazebo and air conditioning. he says he's pretty frustrated with the hierarchy of the church in the way that catholic teachings are being interpreted and he said he felt support from his pastor but it was the energy that was coming from the diocese and the bishop that restricted him. >> has the diocese said any further about his intention to expand his role in the church? >> when i reached out to them they issued the exact same information, they say the catholic church's teachings is marriage is between a man and a woman, if you are going to be teaching you also need to be

showing that in your public actions. that's kind of where they stand on this. i will say he is hopeful with this new pope that there will be some additional dialogue with the lgbt community and he's hoping that maybe one day that may change. >> what about the community, this particular case and others as well, is there a broader sense of change for the community? >> i think this has brought a big opportunity for dialogue and conversation. glad for example did a whole twitter campaign, and there are a lot of people just like nicholas that got ousted after they got married. now that they're able to get married what does the church say about that? it's definitely brought a lot of conversation online in public and at least trying to get the pope's attention. whether or not he speaks to anybody publicly about that. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha. >> thank you. >> next the pope

of electronica and what he has in common with that other leader of the

>> it's not unusual for celebrities to get political. to pick up the cause du jour for a little media time. but one musician was tuned in to environmental media time long before he sold 20,000 albums. we're sharing part of the conversation with you tonight on the eve of what could be the most divine performance of moby's career. his music is the digital beat for 007.

and defining sound track for the unstoppable jason borne. but even mi 6 and the cia can't compare to the person,. >> i'm opening up for pope in d.c. as far as i know. >> a few days later he leaked the news to his 1.3 million followers with this nice tweet. this nice man and i will be on the national mall and telling francis to take moral action for climate. >> let's finish, moby is opening up for pope. how did that happen? >> there's going to be a climate change rally after the pope addresses congress on climate change. but the pope will be leaving congress and addressing a climate change conference. and i'm supposed to play music

before the pope addresses this climate change conference. >> it's a rally on the national mall. making a moral case for protecting the environment. earth day network and the moral action on climate network are leading the charge. along with the sierra club, league of conservation voters and others. the permit for gathering is for 200,000 people a number that would eclipse almost any concert venue. >> the way the pope is moving our culture needle is magical. you know, and one of my shadenfreude on my part, but watching these right wing catholics squirm is so satisfying, watching the jeb bushes and rick santorums and whof whatever, is watching them

distance themselves from their church. it's exciting. >> pope francis is igniting issues and being kind to creation is one of them. he asked the world's leaders to act on climate change. in his 190 page encyclical on the environment, pope francis says human destruction of nature is one small sign of the ethical cultural and spiritual crisis of modernity, and says the antedote is a bold cultural revolution, a revolution that parishers to performers can embrace. >> we love the denver broncos, we love jazz we love republicans we love christianity. we identify as part of a tribe. tribes. i don't think god looks at the earth and says those people who read this pook, i lik book, i l.

but i don't like them. i don't think god is petty or whether god cares where we choose to spend our sundays, whether in a church or in the woods. or when people are cruel to each other or to creation, i think god would have something about that. >> the follow up act being the pope himself. we'll have more of lisa's interview with mobby on "talk to al jazeera." and that's our story tonight. we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow.

colombia's president and the leader of the park rebel group have agreed a justice deal after more than five decades of conflict. ♪ ♪ hello, this is al jazeera live from doha. also ahead on the program. urging action on climate change and canonizing a controversial figure, pope francis wraps us his first day on this u.s. trip. e.u. fledges pledges over $1 billion of aid to syria