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but pope francis is the biggest star of them all. the holy father making his trip to philly a family affair. fireworks over the ben franklin parkway, as day one of the papal visit comes to a close. good evening, i'm jacqueline london. >> and i'm jim rosenfield. it ended less than an hour ago, capping off a whirlwind day for pope francis here in philadelphia. we have team coverage on et pope and the people who journeyed from around the world for this moment. >> we begin with harry live. you got a bird's-eye view of history tonight. >> reporter: oh, yes, i did. pope francis' day was jam packed

with events that we'll remember for a long time to come. pope francis arrived in philadelphia before he even left the airport, he told his driver to stop his fiat so he could meet michael keating, a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. he was off to the cathedral to the basilica of st. peters and paul. then the pontiff took a break, traveling to st. charles seminary for lunch. and time with seminary students. he didn't stop for long. around 4:00 p.m. he made his way to independence hall in the pope mobile. >> translator: many of you have emigrated to this country at great personal cost. but in the hope of building a new life. >> reporter: then on the parkway in front of hundreds of thousands, the rare sight of the pope mobile at night. like a rock star, he made his way through center city.

finishing up the night, being serenaded by a variety of artists, including the queen of soul, aretha franklin. and what a show. now, after all the shows, pope francis made his way back to the seminary. time to get to bed. he has another early day starting bright and early at 9:00 tomorrow morning. reporting live on the parkway, harry hairston, nbc 10 news. >> the world just needs more love, and a chorus of children. >> the festival of families was billed as a party, and that description was certainly accurate. nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal continues our team coverage. randy? >> reporter: in the minutes

after the papal parade on the parkway, the massive crowds began to move. headed down toward the art museum for the final act of the night, the festival of families, featuring all-star performers, like aretha franklin. >> really good performers. aretha franklin was up there. >> reporter: pope francis headlined the evening event, but most pilgrims couldn't get anywhere near the stage without a ticket. that didn't stop them from celebrating in the streets. the mood was a mix of excitement -- >> it's amazing. great for us. it was amazing. >> reporter: -- and peaceful solace, a night cap to a long day in a locked-down city. >> love. >> love, and peace, and really everyone's wonderful to each other. >> reporter: the festival capped off the pope's first day in philadelphia. many families spent the entire

morning, afternoon and night here, sleeping on the ground, killing time, worth it, they say, to see the pontiff up close. >> i think he's revitalized the church, and brings unity to the catholic church. >> reporter: nbc 10 news. >> it really was a festive mood at the festival of families tonight. even the nuns were jamming out to "we are family" by sister sledge. >> lauren is live in center city. lauren, the show is over for this evening, but the excitement isn't. >> reporter: certainly true. we are at 12th and fillburt. this is where a lot of folks have been coming out of the festival of families. let me show you where they are actually heading. a lot of them coming right over here and heading over to the

line to head home for the night. this is not just a one-day event. a lot of folks telling me they're coming back again tomorrow. sure to make memories for a lifetime. >> i don't know, how long, a half an hour? >> reporter: a long journey for this group from a cleveland area high school. >> on the bus at 6:00 this morning. >> reporter: but they didn't seem to mind. even planning to camp out at a philadelphia museum. >> have your sleeping bags? >> yes! >> reporter: some wore the excitement on their backs. pope t-shirts everywhere. including this family's custom, the pope is dope one. >> we're proud philadelphians. to have us be in the world view is a unique experience. it's a once in a lifetime. >> reporter: talk about a once in a lifetime, check out austin robeck's souvenir, celebrating mass with the pope. >> the pope greeted us cordially. we got to shake his hand. >> shook the pope's hand? >> it was a neat experience. >> reporter: how do you even

process that? >> to be honest, i'm in a daze. it's something i know i'll never forget for the rest of my life. >> reporter: he is actually studying to become a priest. so that was quite a moment for him. but for other folks, just getting a glimpse of the pope was a thrill. they're going to get another chance tomorrow. live in center city, lauren mayk, nbc 10 news. coming up, some are calling it a miracle during the papal visit. how one woman's life changed forever as soon as pope francis came to philly. plus, the moment everyone is talking about. >> i can't explain it. it's a dream come true. >> the papal blessing that brought a local family to tears, and what they told pope francis during the encounter. and don't miss the forecast for the pope's mass on the parkway tomorrow. you're watching special coverage of the pope in philadelphia. sure, tv has evolved over the years.

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♪ the lord's prayer, that's andrea bocelli, the famous italian tenor performing. a jam packed day for the holy father tomorrow. >> no time forrest. not much anyway. sunday starts off at st. charles seminary where he's going to meet with bishops. from there, he travels to visit prisoners. inmates in the correctional system have been working for the past couple of seats for a stately chair for the pope that they hand-carved out will

walnut. >> the main event sunday afternoon. pope francis will host a public mass on the parkway at 4:00. an estimated 1.5 million people are expected to attend. >> yes. it's only after that mass that he heads back to philadelphia international airport for a final visit with family leaders, and then he boards a plane to rome at 8:00 p.m. you're watching continuing coverage of the pope in philadelphia. >> and this was the poignant moment during the festival of families. pope francis blessing a boy in a wheelchair there. another family benefited from the pope's compassion in a moment that touched hearts around the world.

♪

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♪ that youngster with the beautiful angelic voice serenading pope francis, a member of the keystone state boy choir, based out of the first presbyterian church in germantown. other visitors crossed oceans to get here. >> nbc 10's george spencer is live in center city with that part of the story. people coming from far and wide. >> reporter: jim, today, i talked to people from as far away as kazakhstan and mozambique and as nearby as south philadelphia. this spot where i'm standing is right in the middle of the papal parade. it's virtually a ghost town now.

a few lingering pilgrims making their way home. after philadelphia today in the international spotlight. gliding down the parkway at sunset, draped in white and brightly lit, pope francis looked almost like an apparition. for this cheering crowd of hundreds of thousands, it was the man, the moment they had waited and traveled for. this woman came to philly from kazakhstan, south of russia. >> it was very exciting. something that you wait for, for quite a long time. then you see it, and you feel the excitement. >> reporter: on the parade route we saw people from dozens of countries. but nowadays everyone speaks the language of technology, capturing the moment on their cell phones. and they insist even the hours of waiting beforehand were fulfilling. >> we had beautiful family time. that's what it was all about. >> reporter: when the pope finally passed, for many pilgrims, it was the memory of a lifetime to be taken from philly

back to their homes. >> it was incredible. we waited five hours. we were right there. >> reporter: right there on top of that. this was really a respectful and joyful crowd, by and large out here, across the board. and they really do seem to be making their way around our city very well. subways, on foot, however they're doing it. in center city, george spencer, nbc 10 news. as for today's crowd estimates, the archdiocese of philadelphia said it has no numbers at this point. >> it does say crowds subtly grew throughout the day. mass transit agencies say ridership was lighter than sales tickets indicated. ft. washington state in montgomery county here, more than 5,000 tickets sold out of the station. but less than 1,700 rode the train here today. septa said it had just over 20,000 riders on regional rail throughout the day.

they expect larger numbers tomorrow. a miracle on the streets of philadelphia today. >> new jersey's finest moving heaven and earth to provide a local woman with a gift of life. a woman in need of a kidney transplant was alerted this morning of a match at jefferson hospital. the new jersey department of health enlisted state troopers who provided a police escort into philadelphia where she was successfully delivered to jefferson to undergo transplant surgery. and this, a moving and unscripted moment that harry hairston mentioned earlier. minutes after the pontiff landed in philadelphia, he stopped his driver and headed straight to this 10-year-old boy. the pope kissed the boy's forehead, coaxing a small smile from him. the boy has cerebral palsy. here's a picture of the scene's moment, right there. an emotional time for keating's parents who were there beside their son. keating's mother said not knowing spanish, he just

repeated the word thank you as she and her husband shook hands with the pope. >> michael has cerebral palsy. as a result of that, we've actually had wonderful people come into our lives, that we never knew would happen before. and this is just another one of those experiences. of course, it tops all others. >> keating said her son had only one reaction as pope francis walked away, and that was a smile. >> and the determination of pope francis as he was in the fiat driving away on the tarmac, and wanting that fiat to stop, asking them to stop so he could go over and bless that boy. >> that apparently was a nun who caught his eye, and pointed to the family. and he saw that. and reacted. >> so good. >> yes. moving moments throughout the papal visit today. we anticipate more tomorrow as the holy father continues his blessings. >> the mass on the parkway is at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. sheena, what can we expect as far as the weather? >> the weather today, very cooperative. it was not hot, it was not rainy. so we really got lucky with the

cloud cover in place. it was a breezy day, but i don't think people mind the breeze, because it was dry. the rain is still to the south. that's where we expect it to stay tomorrow. still a cloudy day. a lot like today. as we go into your sunday. so for tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. temperature around 59 degrees. mostly cloudy. 9:00 a.m., 63 degrees. it will be breezy tomorrow again. 11:00 in the morning, 67 degrees. and by 1:00 p.m., temperatures should be right around 70 degrees. now for the papal mass at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow, we again expect the cloudy but cool conditions, especially in the morning hours. but through the afternoon, we'll be topping out in the mid-70s. 3:00, around 73 degrees, cloudy and breezy. pretty much the same as 5:00. 7:00, temperature around 71 degrees. also cloudy and breezy. future weather, temperature around the philadelphia area, by 10:00 a.m., mid-60s.

there you see the clouds. by sunday evening, though, we'll be dropping into the upper 60s. monday, if you'll be traveling early monday to get back to wherever you came from, don't be surprised if you might see a few showers around. same thing as we go into monday afternoon. again, don't be surprised if you see the rain. that will be in the forecast into monday. even tuesday, temperatures will be a little bit warmer. we'll be staying in the 80s to start next week. stay tuned. we'll be right back.

we know not everyone made it to the parkway to see pope francis. >> many of you watched here on nbc 10 as we brought you a front-row seat from the comfort of your own home. doug spent the evening with some of pope francis' biggest fans. >> reporter: the franciscan sisters have no problem being called pope groupies. they hang on his every word, and none of the sisters can remember a pope that made them do that. >> he tells it as he sees it and as it is. we need to hear it.

>> reporter: so out came the popecorn, and papal punch and bernadine franciscan sisters near reading, five days into their pope watch marathon. >> i'm tearful each time he begins. his humility at the end, to say please pray for me. you have to think, we do, we do, we do every day. >> reporter: they had thought about braving the logistics and security and crowds to go to philadelphia. >> my sense it would be easier for me to go to rome and visit the pope than here. so we'll live stream it. >> reporter: they quickly realized that with this pope, you don't have to be there to get the message. >> we actually get chills, not even being there. i don't know what we would do if we were there. he's a very, very special person. >> reporter: the sisters say they're already working on how to make the pope's legacy real in their daily lives after the pope leaves. doug shimell, nbc 10 news.

>> incredible day. that's nbc news at 11:00. thank you so much for watching. we leave you with another taste of the festival of families. good night. ♪

one of the greatest days in my life. >> cars out, no cars allowed in. >> on more platforms than anyone else, on air, online, and on the nbc 10 app. for the latest breaking news, traffic conditions and weather, watch nbc 10 news. count on it. sure, tv has evolved over the years.

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>> oh, gosh, what a perfect day for a picnic. it's so nice out here. [ cheers and applause ] >> i'm so glad it's finally that time of year again. you know what i mean. >> i sure do. [ piano plays ] >> ♪ there's a breeze in the trees an