>> absolutely incredible. he's passing in front of the crowd, as we saw. again, he will be making his way to the front of the basilica. of course this pope does what he wants to do, as we know. he might stop and kiss a couple of of people, shake some hands. that's who he is, a genuine person. that's why so many people have been connected to him, young people. monsignor rossi, the rector of the basilica here, was saying 1300 members in the last couple of months have come back to the catholic church. this pope is certainly a big deal. again, making his way to the front of the basilica where he will be greeted by some 2300 novices who are there to show him the excitement and the future of the catholic church. back to you.

>> meagan fitzgerald, again, live pictures of pope francis in the popemobile, making his way around, through the crowd, on the grounds of the basilica. about 15 minutes to go before the historic mass begins there. vice president joe biden expected to be among those attending today, along with of course cardinal wuerl and monsignor rossi, they are expected to accompany the pope to the chapel for private prayer before the mass gets underway. >> vice president biden has been following this pope in many ways. he was there for the installation of pope francis. in fact devout catholics are given the opportunity to kiss the ring upon meeting the pope. vice president biden declined to

do that. but he has spoken very, very eloquently and forcefully about his catholic faith, and especially how that has served him in light of the loss of his son beau biden. >> very meaningful to him. and this time is so meaningful to so many of this area's catholics, 6 00,000 in the washington area alone. 1.2 billion catholics around the world. and he is the head of the church, here in washington, on his first trip to the united states, a 3-day visitor here to the u.s. this is one of the highlights of his visit, this mass that will take place in just a few minutes at the basilica. he'll be doing the mass today in spanish. the mass will be celebrated in spanish, as will the homily. we got a chance to hear the pope

speak english this morning. >> a lot of people have heard his words, but only through reading them. you've heard so much about what he has said. but i think most catholics, most people have only read those words, not actually heard him speak. and we know of course he spent much of his career in latin america. spanish is his native tongue. he said he wanted at the white house to speak english. >> and i understand he doesn't realize that his english is better than he thinks. >> it is. >> let's go back to wendy rieger down at the basilica. wendy? >> reporter: we've solved our audio problems. how cool is this guy? he comes through once, turns around, and comes back again. i'm surrounded by two catholics. david, you were just glowing as you watched him. >> you look down, and you can see, within the enclosed area, they're just running the crowds from one part to another, and then back again.

as you mentioned, he makes that second lap. you can see the thrill on their faces, people are wiping their eyes. >> reporter: how do you feel? >> i've been blessed to go to rome three times. there's something so beautiful about being a catholic, seeing the vatican and being there, seeing the majesty. but there's nothing like a home game. to see him here amongst the crowd, monsignor, you and i exchanging glances there, what a powerful scene. >> absolutely. i've been privileged, as you have been, to be at several papal events in the past. and it always sends a chill up my spine. you can feel it, it's palpable, like electricity in the air. he is a man, yes, and a remarkable man certainly. but in a way he is the successor to st. peter, the first pope. and when people reach out to him and respond to him, in a way they're reaching out to jesus himself. and to feel that connection for

a catholic, it's just a remarkable thing. there's nothing quite like it. >> reporter: so how huge is this? this is -- he is really making some inroads, you hope, with this trip. >> oh, absolutely. as i started to say earlier, when we had audio problems, we've been having pope watch at st. peter's school all week, with our video morning announcements, with students and a life-size cutout of pope francis. it's been just fantastic, watching their enthusiasm and excitement getting ready for this, as well as my whole parish and catholics throughout the area. actually as far as papal events go, i went to seminary here. i never thought i would see 25,000 people jammed into this space like we're seeing right now. but this is actually kind of small compared to other papal events. so the energy is still certainly there. and it's going to have a tremendous effect, i think, for all of us catholics in the area. and here he's appearing

somewhere. he's walking. let's not forget that he's inside the shrine there, there are actually people inside the shrine watching all of this on video monitors. and he looks like he's going into the upper sacrasty for the vestments he will wear for the mass. >> reporter: he really is just so -- not just charismatic. as chris was saying earlier, he is a very routed man. and you really see it. he feels so approachable. and he feels like he's one of us. but just a better one of us, you know what i mean? >> absolutely. >> reporter: and how nice, they just want to touch his garments. how lovely.

>> that's the main aisle of the upper church of the basilica of the national shrine. he's walking down, greet people, all over. as you can see, he's followed by cardinal wuerl. and over his i guess left shoulder is monsignor walter rossi, the rector of this basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception. >> reporter: can you convey to little kids who are surrounded by celebrity, and often feel like with social media and selfies and being able to upload everything on a big stage, that they are themselves kind of little celebrities, how do you impress them these days? >> i think pointing out that i believe the pope is on twitter and has more twitter followers, i think, than anyone else in the world, it counts into the millions. that impresses young people. i'm not of the twitter generation, so i'm lost. but i think the way that this pope has used social media to

reach out. and that's really his message, to reach out to the margins, reach out to the people who feel distanced from jesus and the church. and he uses media to his advantage, doing just that. >> reporter: you said he is heading now to put on his vestments. >> yes. >> reporter: and what is that ritual like? >> well, there is often -- it's not a formal ritual. many priests say a vesting prayer as they prepare to put on the vestments for the pass. what's going to happen, it looks like he's now going to address the people inside the national shrine, he's going to pray with them, making the sign of the cross. >> reporter: and he's going to change hats? >> he will. he will come out. right now he's giving them a blessing. he's wearing the zucchetto, the white zucchetto. when he comes out for the mass, he will also be wearing the

mitre, the large pointed liturgical vestment. >> reporter: and the first thing he's going to do when he comes out is what? >> we're going to continue to have music. the first thing he'll do is greet the congregation with the sign of the cross. they will respond. catholics who attend mass regularly will recognize the structure of this mass, with the exception of the rite of canonization which happens right at the beginning of the day mass following the greeting. it takes the place of the usual p penitential rite that starts the mass. >> reporter: and this is for junipero serra. he's going to be using the language of a native american tribe to do that canonization, the first on u.s. soil.

>> want first reading will actually be in a native american dialect. one of the dialects of northern california of one of the tribes that was evan gellized by father serra. the language of the rite of canonization will be in latin, the universal language of the church, and also in spanish. in that ritual, you will hear an invocation of the holy spirit. you will hear an invocation calling for all the saints to pray for all of us and for father serra. then you'll hear a request for cardinal wuerl for father serra to be canonized. >> reporte >> we understand there will be a stained glass window that is dedicated to father serra, it has his image on it.

this is the first mass for this first jess -- jesuit pope here in the u.s. this is the fertiirst time he w be conis he crating the blood and body of christ here in the u.s. i believe there is a statue to blessed serra there; is that correct? >> within the shrine, i believe that's correct. junipero serra is well-known at least to some catholic americans. there are serra clubs throughout the united states. these are organizations devoted to pray for and encourage vocations, especially the priesthood and religious life. we have one right here in washington that each year makes a pilgrimage to the capitol

stat stat statueary hall. this group, the dc serra club, makes a pilgrimage there and praise there each year. >> reporter: there's also been controversy about junipero serra, saying he was cruel at times to the indians that he had his mission, the native americans there. how do you reconcile that? >> certainly we're at a point in history where we recognize that the since of european colonists against the native americans were many. really the question with regards to junipero serra is to what degree did he participate in these since, in these wrongs. after investigating what he did literally for centuries and a formal process that goes all the way back to 1934, the process of canonization, the church has

concluded, pope francis has concluded that here was a man in really what was a bad situation, trying to do good, trying to bring love and attend to the needs of the native americans, who themselves for generations after the death of serra, called him, referred to him as e el santo, the saint. >> reporter: looking inside the shrine now. >> that's such a dramatic and stunning backdrop, the image of christ there. a lot of folks go into the shrine, if you haven't, it's worth going down, not today, but to see how striking it is inside. >> reporter: that figure of christ there is actually very muscular, different. i was only in the shrine once for my niece's graduation in june. i thought, whoa, that's a different jesus. >> i don't want to appear irreverent, but as i said, i attended seminary here in the

early '80s and '90s, and we used to call that "rambo christ." that christ is really ripped. that christ is a judge. the imagery reflects the spirituality of a particular time. this reflects a particular understanding of christ when the shrine was built. >> reporter: there's many versions of christ. >> as we're looking at these, it's worth noting that the folks out here are seeing the same visuals that we're able to see. they're having these large jumbotrons put up so that folks are able to fully participate in what is a very long procession. there's been a lot of patience here today. this goes in hand with the pope we're talking about, pope francis. we think about his own formation. it was 13 years to fully become

a jesuit. it was a lot time, when he started going into the novitiate, until he took his final vow. the jesuits are a strong presence within this area, and within the world, on six continents. more than a hundred countries. their presence is clearly notable. >> reporter: david, we had a question here for monsignor parent, if you will convey the question to him. normally for canonization we understand there are supposed to be two miracles performed or credited to the person who is being canonized as a saint. and there's only one that junipero serra has been credited with. can you ask the monsignor to explain that? >> we know he focused on the nun

who was cured of lupus after praying to serra. was there another one? >> monsignor, when it comes to the canonization process, having a certain number of miracles to his credit so as to bring him to that point. as of now, only one miracle documented. why the gap there? >> that's correct. well, the process, the formal process of canonization begins by establishing heroic virtue in the life of the person. and that's what it takes to open a cause for canonization, not just that he was or she was a virtuous person but a heroic virtue with ous person. typically there has to be two miracles to establish that this soul is indeed in heaven, because that's what's happening with canonization.

catholics believe every soul in heaven is a saint. we formally recognize this process with canonization. usually there's a second miracle. but in some cases the pope has the authority to simply say this person is so holy, we don't have to wait for a second miracle. so there was one official miracle for father serra. but the second one, pope francis waived. >> reporter: pat and chris? >> it was one thing that struck me, wendy, i know the move to canonize father serra started in the 1930s. but it was really pope francis who fast-tracked his canonization which some people found interesting in that pope francis has been such a champion for the disadvantaged, and here you have a group of people, the native americans, who many say were treated very poorly in those initial missions.

>> reporter: chris was asking, when they first started talking about canonizing junipero serra in the '30s, but it was pope francis who fast-tracked it, he wants to reach out to the disadvantaged yet many feel it was the native americans who were disadvantaged at that time. again, how do you reconcile that? >> i think we'll be debating that until the end of time. junipero serra, because he was part of this european colonzation, is he a negative figure historically or is he a saint? native americans themselves i think are split on the question. when the church says the particular historical figure was a saint, they're not saying that person was perfect, not by a long shot.

the real difference between saints and sinners, it's not the fact that they since, it's that saints know they're sinners and seek god's mercy. and so we can look at junipero serra from our perspective in the 21st century and say, well, he may have been part of things that we would not approve of, yes, we can say that, but we can also say that within his own historical context, in the world he lived in, this was a man who was honestly trying to bring god's love to the people, to the native americans. that's really -- that's why he went to the ends of the earth. he dreamed of going, leaving spain, leaving the comfort of his life in spain to go to the missions, to bring the gospel to the people there. >> reporter: is there any other saint who carries this much controversy, who has been as debated? >> i would say yes, at this point in history, any european saint who has anything to do with proclaiming the gospel to

indigenous peoples, we see these kinds of questions and debates raised. >> monsignor, when we look at the significance of this mass in particular, it can't be overlooked, it's a mass in spanish. this is a latin american pope. when you go down there, wendy and i were walking through, you could hear spanish everywhere, people speaking what is the pope's native tongue. that is clearly a strong element here. >> absolutely. i have a -- i do not myself speak spanish, except for a few words. i am a pastor of a parish that has a spanish congregation. they constitute about 15% of my parish. they had a whole lot of -- a whole lot of them went into our lottery for tickets. there were many more that are english speakers that wanted to be here. the excitement is fantastic. i think the message, part of the message that pope francis is sending in this mass, he's

helping us remember as americans that our nation's history and our nation's founders were not all english speakers. >> reporter: i juxtapose that with the political environment right now where you have some incendiary candidates, donald trump, who people are saying that about him, who seems to be sort of demonizing, if you will, the illegal immigrants and building a wall and sending everyone back to mexico and stuff. do you think that -- i mean, i'm sure it's just coincidence that pope francis is here now, but do you think that he creates a bit of an oasis for these people who feel like in the last couple of months in our political campaign that they've been beaten up a bit? >> yes, i think that's absolutely troupe. i'll speak for a my parishioners. the fact that he is the first --

i mean, that the first american pope is a latin american is a source of tremendous pride. when he speaks to the problems of immigration, he is not -- he's speaking as a pastor. he's not dictating political policy. there's still much room for legitimate -- people of goodwill will disagree about the particular policies. francis is always calling us to really a deeper generosity and to try to basically love everyone, including the immigrant. >>. >> reporter: we're going to go down into the crowd and check in with our colleague, meagan fitzgerald. there is a bit of a lull right now, as we're waiting for the next act. meagan? >> reporter: certainly. people are definitely waiting in anticipation of the pope's arrival. he will be coming out of the doors we see in front of us here any moment now. but it certainly is worth noting, as we've been talking

about the canonization of junipero serra, that it is an extensive process that's done over many, many years to determine if a person rises to the level of sainthood. and so certainly a lot of controversy around junipero serra. but pope francis has been quoted saying that he has reviewed the cases, including writings that junipero serra has written, defending the native people there and condemning, if you will, the actions of the colonizers and the way in which they treated the native american people. however, with that said, we do know that junipero serra will be canonized today. that will be, as the monsignor said, towards the beginning of the mass. that's when the holy father will make a formal request that junipero serra be added to the canon of saints.

so again, people out here waiting with angst, as many of us are, for the arrival of pope francis. the door looks like it has opened, not quite clear if pope francis is making his way down to the altar or not. wendy and dave, we're waiting on pins and needles, as you are as well. >> and we're watching now as the procession is making its way through the shrine. monsignor was talking about the changing of vestments, wearing the mitre. we expect him to make an appearance once again outside after blessing the folks within the basilica, he'll be coming out on the east portico, where

meagan fitzgerald is. >> for us non-catholics, what are we looking at? >> you're looking at the pope making the procession here. the bishops and the priests are wearing white vestments. what it means is that this is a saint who is not a martyr. had it been a saint who was a martyr -- >> boy, oh, boy, live coverage for hours, i think even the audio mikes seem to break from time to time. it's about 4:25. you're watching news4's live coverage of the canonization of junipero serra, a missionary who brought christianity to california. >> it's the first canonization ever to take place in the united states. junipero serra will be the first hispanic saint canonized here at

the largest roman catholic church in america. one of the ten largest churches in the world. and the procession is underway. there we see the bishop pro asse cessing in. >> you can see, it looks like a sea of white there at the basilica. as you can see, the bishops coming in, framed of course in the back by a lot of people in dark suits. so a very striking contrast there as they start to make their way into the basilica. >> of course you have cardinals, you've got bishops, you've got priests, you've got 3600 seminaryans. there are those gathered inside and outside the basilica, who are invited, who was tickets, and who are witnessing this historic mass taking place in the nation's capital. >> there will be an entrance

song as the pope makes his way into the basilica. right after that he will give a formal greeting. and they'll get right into the canonization. that's sort of what's going to happen over the next few minutes there at the basilica. ♪

[ speaking in latin ]

♪

♪

as we continue with the opening prayers at the mass here at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception, giving a feel for the start. monsignor bill parent is with us. as wendy pointed out, there will be some rituals that we see. the pope is starting with the opening prayer of the mass but then will go straight into the canonization process. how do you see that playing forward? >> right now we're in the rite of canonization. what we're hearing chanted now is an invocation of the holy spirit in latin. it begins, "come holy spirit,

creator blessed." it is a long prayer, praying that the holy spirit will come and bring its power to bear on this ceremony. we see there the bishops who are celebrating this mass. their magenta juimagine emagent their heads. >> you were telling us why he's wearing white. tell us that again. >> again, white symbolizes the holiness of the saints who are not martyrs. because father junipero serra was not a martyr, you see the white vestments for this mass. >> reporter: and the red represents? >> it reminds us of the blood of martyrs who gave their lives for the christian faith. >> reporter: again, as someone who was raised, with all due

respect, a run of the mill protestant, i have always loved the ritual and the pageantry of the catholic church, even though i know, as chris pointed out earlier, this pope is a much more humble man. what does the pageantry mean, everything from dipping into the holy water as you walk in to cross yourself, the rituals of the mass, the taking of the u eucharist, what does that do to make you part of the tribe, if you will? >> each of the things we do in worship we believe in one way or another connects us with more closely with christ. every christian is baptized with water in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. we saw the incense, the altar

being incensed, incense being our prayers rise to god like incense, just to help us appreciate the holiness of that altar. >> we're hearing now, what we saw was cardinal wuerl, beginning the invocation of this blessed serra to become saint serra. now they're reading a brief bio of junipero serra. >> reporter: his image is hanging in the back. what are they telling us about him? >> about junipero serra, basically the message i think we'll hear throughout this mass is that junipero serra is a great missionary. he is an example of bearing the gospel to all peoples. we're going to hear a gospel today proclaimed, which is the end of matthew's gospel.

the reading we're going to hear is jesus commissioning all his disciples to make christians in all the nations, to baptize them all. ultimately a way of really just spreading the good news, sharing the good news. and i think that's really the kind of heroic virtue that we see very much in the life of serra, the heroic virtue of a missionary who loves all people, including the native americans that he went to in california. >> reporter: and something like this really, for people who maybe don't follow this, really puts him on the map, so to speak, if you will. >> that's true. i mean, he's now officially a saint. he is our first american saint who is hispanic. he is -- in a moment, after this

dialogue between cardinal wuerl and the pope, in a moment we're going to hear the names of the saints sung and invoked in prayer. in that list of saints we'll hear the names of all the north american saints, the saints of canada as well as mexico and the united states. >> reporter: do we have many? >> we probably have -- this is off the top of my head, but we have maybe 15 or 20 total. i can count the list and get back to you in a few moments. >> reporter: i'm impressed. david? >> when we look at this moment right here, we think about sa t sainthood in and of itself, a lot of people ask, why do we need saints, why not pray to god? that's a question i got as a catholic going through school. my response, and feel free to augment it and make me a little more enlightened, was sure,

while we have god to pray to, it doesn't hurt to have others praying on your behalf, interceding for you. so to have somebody you perhaps identify with, a human being who you can model your lifestyle after, and then perhaps strive for protection, as you say, not become perfect, but the striving for perfection. is that how you see it? >> very much so. the key to understanding how catholics understand saints is, when we pray to saints is, we're not doing the same thing we do when we pray to god. when we pray to saints at catholics, we're asking the saints to pray for us. you hear that in the words of the hail mary, holy mary, mother of god, pray for us sinners in the hour of our death, amen. it's like asking a good friend, a holy friend to pray for you because you're ill or you're going through troubles. prayer is a good thing. prayer is something that does not take anything away from god,

asking other people to pray for you. >> reporter: and they're still in the canonization process of junipero serra. can i just say -- this is the english of the mass. >> as a result of the spanish incursion of the area. serra made a great number of missionary trips to california. >> translator: serra then was very steadfast during these hard travels until the very end of his life, despite illnesses and physical ailments that he had and that exhausted his fortitude.

he died on august 28th, 1784, at the san carlos mission in carmel. he was beatified by st. john paul ii on september 25, 1988.

[ speaking in latin ] ♪ >> reporter: this is now a latin portion of the mass as they're moving forward with "christ have mercy, lord have mercy, christ have mercy." this is typical in the mass as we hear it in the liturgy. this is now part of the litany

of stainaints. this is what monsignor was talking about when he said they will run through several things in latin, asking them to pray for us. >> that's correct. the list will predominantly what are considered the universal saints of the church, like for example john the baptist, st. joseph, st. augustin, st. martin, st. benedict. as i mentioned, it's going to conclude with more contemporary saints, including all of the north american saints. i counted it up, there are 13 separate north american saints. one of those is for i believe six saints, the north american martyrs. we're talking about i think 19 american states. this would be about the 20th north american saint. >> reporter: what is the process, what is this call and response? is that what i'm hearing? >> yes.

>> it's part of the litany. monsignor, there are several litanies within the church. you have litanies to mary. >> i think only god knows the number of litanies we have in the church. there are a great many litanies. we're hearing a litany of the saints. it's making the point i was making earlier that the response is "pray for us" in latin. we invoke the name, sing a name of the saint and the response of the congregation is "pray for us." >> reporter: when we look at a process like this, you have to wonder, in what point in this process as he actually becoming a saint? are there certain words that are said that makes it official? >> remember, this is a process that recognizes something we believe that god did. so the point at which blessed or

formerly blessed, soon to be saint, serra, this is a conclusion of a centuries-long process called canonization, but we believe god made the saint when junipero serra died. >> reporter: humans just now getting up to speed on it? >> we're just recognizing what god has done. >> reporter: they told me that one of the people singing in the choir is newt gingrich's wife. >> the choir that has been through quite a process over the past few weeks. talking with paul buckley, we're hearing as many as 200 people have been part of this process. going through 120 pages of music, to get up to speed, making it perfect. they were out here yesterday

rehearsing these moments because they want it to be sacred and exact. >> reporter: i can't imagine anything performed in this church would not have a certain perfection to it. you know, it seems like it's one of the mac daddy churches for the catholics, correct? >> this is, as we've been hearing repeatedly over the last few days, the largest catholic church in the united states. we consider it a national shrine, america's catholic church. it's for the country. whenever we worship here, it's really worship at its highest standards. >> reporter: now, is the whole congregation participating in this response, or just the choir? >> no, this response is for the whole congregation. ♪

>> reporter: very haunting. do you find it haunting? it's almost like a meditation, when you're repeating a series of sounds over and over again, it kind of lulls you into another state of consciousness, perhaps. >> i think that's absolutely correct. that's the nature of chant. this is part of the universal chant of the church, in the church's mother tongue, latin. and that's precisely what it's supposed to do. it's supposed to raise our hearts and minds for the lord and put us in a different kind of spiritual space. >> reporter: well, i'm feeling it. ♪

♪ ♪

[ speaking in latin ] [ speaking in latin ]

>> you hear latin throughout this mass. folks may have been expecting spanish. >> the push is comispanish is c. latin is the universal language of the church. we fall into latin all the time, especially formal locations. we regularly use latin chants at my own parish in st. peter's in waldorf. the spanish is coming. [ speaking in latin ] >> he's saying in the name of

the father, of the son, and the holy spirit, thus concluding that portion of the canonization process. they're now going to move into the placing of the relics. you can hear the cheers following the papal blessing. >> what they're actually doing, they're bringing forth small fragments of bone of the body of junipero serra. it is part of catholic worship to honor the fragments of the bodies of the saints, because we believe that bodies are terms of of the holy spirit, that bodies are holiness that were called to be christ's hands and eyes and ears in the world. so to venerate those fragments is a way of connecting us to the real world life of this saint. >> reporter: what are we hearing, david, right now?

>> right now, this is song 40 from scripture. and this is -- we have encountered the spanish. here we are. >> "here i am, lord, for your service." >> monsignor, these relics, as catholics, obviously these are one of the things you pray for intercessions to, not worshipping the relics themselves. where might these relics end up? >> these relics, as i understand, are going to back to the church in california where the full remains, where father serra's remains are. and they will be kept there

separate from his remains, where people can see them and venerate them and again, kind of experience that connection to him. >> reporter: what i love about this music, again, as a novice to this, is it has a very sort of a tribal beat, very different from the latin and the hymnals that i'm kind of used to. >> there are 1.2 billion catholics in the world. every continent, every culture has catholics. we as catholics express our faith, in every culture, including through music. you're hearing the voice, the music, literally, of different cultures. >> reporter: lovely. is that it? is it done? >> that is -- yes.

he just, as i understand it, he just decreed that father serra is indeed a saint. >> and that would then bring us into the liturgye/lç of the wor. if you thought the mass started 30 minutes ago, you were wrong, because technically here begins the liturgy of the word. that will start off with cardinal wuerl, the archdiocese of washington, addressing the congregation here in spanish. the portion in latin, while you may hear latin throughout the mass, you will mostly now hear spanish. a lot of the anticipation will be, within the liturgy of the word, you'll have the first reading, the response psalm, then the second reading followed by the gospel and then the

homi homily. that's something we're standing by to hear from. let's head back to chris and pat. >> thanks very much, david. you're watching news4's live coverage of the canonization of junipero serra, the missionary who brought christianity to california. the mass will be airing in its entirety, we're streaming the service on the nbc washington app. first, we also want to bring you back to the moment when pope francis entered the basilica. [ cheering ] >> there it is, an eruption of cheers and excitement as he walked into the basilica of the shrine of the immaculate conception moments ago. as he walked down the center aisle, a lot of them reached out in hopes of exchanging a simple touch of the holy father. >> our team coverage continues

outside the basilica with meagan fitzgerald. she spoke with people as they were walking in. what have you been hearing, meagan? >> reporter: we did, we had an opportunity to speak with many of the people, not quite all 25,000 that you see there. but many of them excited, they say they've been waiting outside the gates since 7:00 this morning, waiting to get in. those gates opened up at 10:00. the excitement was hard to contain for a lot of people. it's important to note there is certain a significant amount of spanish-speaking catholics here. but then there are those who don't speak spanish, but they say that's not the point. they want to be in the presence of the holy father. many of them -- one woman, as we said earlier, was moved to tears when we asked her why she came here all the way from brazil. she shared an emotional story with us. and of course everyone has their own personal story but why they

decided to come to see the pontiff. >> it is my dream, because two years ago i get a big problem with my health. and i make a promise, i see the papa. >> he's amazing. he's humble. he's one of us. that's it. a person like you and a person like myself. >> reporter: it's his humility, his unique ability to connect with people. that's what so many people that are sitting before him right now, the 15,000 people sitting before him, another 10,000 standing around the perimeter, they say he brought them here today to witness history. i've been scanning the audience. i have not been able to find an empty seat here. and certainly everyone out here is taking in the moment, enjoying the opportunity to witness pope francis celebrate

mass. back to you. >> thanks so much, meagan. i think you said it best, it means something deeply personal to everyone who experienced it. when pope francis spoke at the white house ceremony, he didn't duck any issues just because we may consider them controversial. if anything, it was a non-partisan message. he made a strong appeal to protect religious liberties but admonished those who odenied climate change. >> we are committed to building a society which is totally tolerant and inclusive, celebrating the rights of individuals and communities. >> and yet i believe the excitement around your visit, holy father, must be attributed not only to your role as pope,

but to your unique qualities as a person. >> the pope exchanged gifts with president obama after the speech. the president gave him a sculpture of an ascending dove created from one of the metal bars on the statue of liberty. he also received a key to the first native-born american to be declared a saint. the pope gave him a plaque that declares a week for families in philadelphia, where he will be celebrating mass on sunday. >> you could see the joy of those gathered yesterday morning. pope francis delayed his departure from the white house in order to meet schoolchildren lined up outside the embassy. some of them were from st. mary's high school in leonardtown in st. mary's county. >> it was a surprise that we got to close to him. we thought he was going to get

in and drive away. >> it was great. i can't put into words the joy and excitement the crowd had going on, and the pope was just -- his presence was humble and holy. >> the students got up early this morning around 2:00 to get to the embassy to see the pope. they waited for about an hour and a half to see him. naturally of occasion resulted in a few selfies like this one. >> you're now watching news4 at five as we continue to follow the pope as he celebrates mass at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception. tisha thompson takes an inside look at what it was like for people trying to catch a glimpse. >> reporter: i'm at 18th and constitution, the site of one of the security gates. for anybody who wanted to try to see the pope today, this is where i was during the inauguration. unlike