Moment, but hell get here. And when he does, it will shall the beginning of a twoday experience that catholics in the philadelphia archdiocese and the surrounding diocese, and people of all faiths in this region will never forget. It is one of the markers of the francis papacy at this point, that he has reached across religious divides. He has reached out to other religions. Number one, the eastern church, of course, but also judaism, islam, he wanted to bring everybody into the same tent and do so with efficiency and effectiveness. In argentina we met two of his close friends, one a rabbi, and the other a leader of the islamic community. They are both in philadelphia with this pope for this journey. And they are a symbol of his efforts to reach across to other religions. And youll see it graphically when he arrivals in philadelphia. Philadelphia, a Patchwork Quilt of catholics and protestants and muslims and jews and he will reach out to all of them when he gets here. He was expected to touch down at Philadelphia International airport at 9 30, but as you can see he is late. And again, we think thats the window, the other side of that glass is where the pope is sitting. And as you can see, he is now waving a fond goodbye to new york. You know, this is his first trip to the United States. And thedits and experts before he got here said he was not that fond of the United States. And many latin americas feel ambiguous about the United States. They are impressed and awestruck by its cultural and economic dominance, but on the other hand recent its political dominance. And they had a catastrophe in 2001, an economic collapse, and many of them feel that policies coming out of washington and the world bank and the i. M. F. Were in significant part responsible for that. So the pope had very ambiguous feelings about this country to the extent that he has thought about the United States. As archbishop of before becoming pope, but once you are pope the world is on your radar screen. And the United States with one of the largest catholic populations in the world becomes a very dominant part of that thought process. Shepard one being to roll on the tarmac at j. F. K. On its way to philadelphia. The vatican flag now being tossed and buffetted by the breeze and pulled into the cockpit along with the American Flag on the other side. He is late, but he is coming. I wonder if we have audio from this feed. Do we . Right now we are listening to a silent feed, but it would be fun to hear. There we go. We dont know why shepherd one is late in taking off, but not very consequential in the scheme of things. He is still scheduled to land in philadelphia at 9 30. So they anticipate picking up time once the plane is airborne. And we see that happening all the time nowadays when planes are a tad late taking off and somehow they still land on time. And perhaps a dirty little secret of airlines today where they pad in a little time so there arent late arrivals. There is the archbishop dolan talking to members of his flock as members of the crowd are saying goodbye to the pope singing we are family. And today, members of the Catholic Community across the United States very much feel like they are family. We will stay here at j. F. K. Until shepherd one is airborne to the short flight to Philadelphia International airport. And the pilot just ready to gun the engines now and new york will say goodbye to pope francis. I am not sure what kind of reception pope francis expected in new york city, but he has to be impressed that he has to be touched by the kind of reception he has received. Not only in new york, but in washington. Again, i dont know that he really knew what to expect when he came to america for the first time, but it has been a triumphant journey to this point. And, of course, there is absolutely no reason to think that this triumphant experience for the pontiff wont continue once he gets to philadelphia. Im sitting here with father willi Willi William byron from st. Joseph Peace University and a member of the society of jesus, and the jesuit in that pope francis is the first jesuit to become the holy father, the bishop of rome. Father byron, how do you expect the philadelphia segment of this journey to be different than new york and washington . Im not sure it will be. I think enthusiasm is the word that can best characterize the reception that he has gotten so far. He has a knack of relating to the people as he did when he spoke in the congress. He spoke to representatives of the american public. But he spoke to them through americans. You remember, i thought it was very interesting that he chose to speak through abraham lincoln, marlin luther king, day and Thomas Murton and he didnt come and wave his finger at anybody. Here is the best they knew. I am just raising it. J dont you keep that spirit going. That spirit of commitment to social justice that dorothy day had, willingness to dream as Martin Luther king. And the commitment of abraham lincoln, and the openness that was characterized by the life and work of murton. And travis monk, in a monetary but an enormous influence. And he had a genius, i think, for windows on our world, and went right through our windows to our world might be a better metaphor. There he goes. New york says goodbye to pope francis. I think its safe to say that not only the Catholic Community in new york, which is the largest archdiocese in america. The Catholic Community had an extraordinary experience with this man, but the entire city of new york. New york prides itself on being perhaps more hospitable than most people would think. And with the crowds no more than five or six feet away from him, perhaps a Security Officers nightmare. But for the pope who wants to be close to people, who wants to be able to touch people, it was an extraordinary sight to see. And as he came into Madison Square garden for last nights papal mass, he was so close that the pilgrims that were there could almost reach out and touch him, and some of them did. And i dont think it intimidated him, i think it made him feel good. Its the way he likes it. And he gets frustrated, for instance, on the drive down fifth avenue the other night when there is distance and there are barriers between him and the flock. But in central park last night and in Madison Square garden last night, he was very much among his flock. You know, he says he wants priests who smell of the sheep. If they are going to be shepherds, get out there with the sheep. And last night he smelled of the sheep. He was a shepherd that was so close to his flock that he smelled of sheep. And he moved to the periphery, to the homeless, and here in philadelphia he will be visiting prisoners. Pope francis and shepherd one now ascending into the clouds for what will be a relatively short flight to philadelphia. His arrival will set in motion just a packed schedule over the next 35 hours. As we look now at Philadelphia International airport, it all starts with a mass at the cathedral basilica of saints peter and paul at 10 30 this morning and we do believe that is it on schedule. The pope will deliver a speech on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Mall this afternoon, and then he will participate in a papal parade around the parkway before aending the festival of families tonight. And sunday meeting with seminarians and bishops and inmates in prison. And there is a second parade on the parkway before the pope delivers his historic mass on a very grand stage. Of course, excitement for this day began 10 months ago. Last november the pontiff himself revealed he would make his first trip to the United States for the world meeting of families. [applause] pope francis visit is the first papal visit since john paul ii in 1979. In anticipation of the popes visit, much has been said about more than a Million People will make their way to center city to hear francis message. The ben franklin bridge, parts of i76 and 676 are closed and septa and new Jersey Transit sold special passes and are operating modified routes today. And john rawlins is live on septas regional rail. How was the trip this morning . Are you in paoli . I am, standing at the staging area where folks are picking up the trains. One of the 18 trains on the rail side that has express service into the city. What you are looking at right now is about 200 to 300 people who are collected in that stage airing right now. And we had so far eight trains excuse me, seven trains that departed here this morning. It is very pleasant upbeat folks. Very happy pilgrims. From time to time they break into song and dance, particularly the younger ones driving from colleges from somewhere in the midwest. A smallerthanexpected crowd. At this point, seven trains, only boarding 1800 people so far. That is considerably less than they thought they would have by this time. They thought they would have about 3,000 people departing from paoli. I am not sure what that means as far as down the road and how bigged crowd is, but from this station it is not a real big crowd so far. Maybe later in the day as there are Additional Trains that will run until noon time, so far it has been light. It certainly havent taxed the system too greatly. Live in paoli, john rawlins for channel 6 action news. Checking in with karen rogers with road closures and impact it is having for people getting into the city. Looking live very vine street expressway. Ra motorcade is setting up in place. A number of emergency workers. It may be hard to see at home but the flashing lights, getting ready on the vine street expressway. We have seen that, more officials getting into place, going through security checkpoi checkpoints. And closed to traffic, people are Walking Around and everybody excited about everything to come. We have been just told that all of our penndot cameras are offline until the pope actually comes into the city. Yet another security measure. We cant show you the schuylkill expressway that has been completely shutdown. This shot of the ben franklin bridge it is pedestrian traffic only. And a lane for emergency vehicles if need be. One driving by right on cue as mentioned. And that separated, a barrier right here. And people are walking across the ben franklin bridge coming in. Closures, starting 10 00 last night through monday, the schuylkill expressway shutdown. And westbound between i95 and route 1. And city avenue, shortly southbound shutdown between belmont avenue and route 30, lancaster avenue and northbound, route 30 and the schuylkill expressway. And the closures of the ben franklin bridge, in new jersey the roads leading to the bensalem bridge are also shutdown, and shutdown west from the airport circling up and 676 northbound shutdown from exit 3 to the ben franklin bridge. And of course, the vine as mentioned is shutdown in both directions. And of course we have the traffic box as it was called from all of the closures in center city stretching from south street to spring garden, ridge and girard. All the way from the Delaware River out to university and 38th street. This is also impacting the buses. Obviously they are not traveling through that area. We have 28 different ones that are suspended. City and suburban buses. However, some of the other buses are running on a week day schedule and running more often because they want to get you to the regional rails so you can participate and be part of this. And all regional rails, frequent service, less stops and a more express service. You have to have the papal pass, have your tickets ready. Check the schedule for that. John rawlins is out there talking about the fact that the crowd havent been too horrible. I think we had a lot of anticipation of that. Some trolleys are running storm but route 15, and 10 is suspended. And norris high speed all operating under a limited service. But everybody seems to know these were the closures coming and seems to be they are dealing with it so far. Thank you. Going to meteorologist david murphy with all of the important accuweather information. David, how is it looking for folks heading out to see the pope today . Jim, so much worry and analysis in the Weather Office for potential for rain, but things appear to be working out pretty well, especially this morning and day one. 65 degrees in philadelphia. If you are still boarding trains in some of the outlining suburbs, low 60s up north, and a bit of a breeze pick up, 13 Miles Per Hour and stronger by the coast in some areas, 1020mileperhour breeze. And it is sending dry air down into the face of washington and it is like hitting a wall today and not making an advance north for saturday. For the papal visit today, during the day looking at 71 degrees at noon, 74 by 2 00. A high today of 75 degrees. Probably around 3 00 this afternoon. And then 73 by 4 00 when the big event, the speech at Independence Hall takes the stage. This is going to be a decent afternoon, a little windy. Clouds with some sun breaking through. The festival of families, probably want to dress more warmly. And by the time the proceedings are wrapping up 64 degrees under mainly cloudy skies and still have the cool 1020mileperhour breeze blowing. For tomorrow, futuretracker 6 getting in line with most of our computer models suggesting cloudy skies tomorrow for the most part, maybe a few sunny breaks. Only a breakaway sprinkle or shower from the system to the south. 2 00 a little, by 8 00 it is done. We are hoping it holds and most models say it will the forecast for tomorrows parade and mass on the parkway, 66 in the morning at 10 00. A light jacket might be a good idea. 72 by 1 00. And by 4 00, 74. Mainly cloudy skies and blustery and breezy tomorrow. Only a slight chance of passing sprinkle or isolated shower. The way i would suggest to dress for the events, short or longsleeve works. And as the sun goes down you may feel cooler, especially with the breeze blowing. For the concert, bring along a jacket you can add on. Maybe a couple of layers. Treat it the way you do a phillies game. As the sun goes downwind the factor and temperatures drop. And the mass on sunday afternoon, i call it an optional jacket. Some may be fine and others bothered by the breeze. And maybe a rain poncho in the pocket in case there is a sprinkle or shower. And things looking good compared to where they looked three or four days ago where it looked to be wetter on sunday. Jim . Thank you stretch. Going back to Philadelphia International airport and action News Reporter dann cuellar. Dann, i can only imagine there is building participation that the pulses are beating more quickly that he is on the way. It is building to a crescendo as we count down the moments. Behind me, one. Special families greeting pope francis is Richard Bowles and his family. A retired Philadelphia Police officer who was shot and wounded in the line of duty september 23, 2008 in the north philadelphia shootout that killed his partner, 30yearold patrick mcdonald. And mr. Bowles is with his family and young children, and they are going to present the pope with a Mountain Laurel plant. You see that green should be in the pot. It is the commonwealth of pennsylvania official flower. They are presenting that to the pope as he comes down the steps. They are practicing, making sure that everybody gets it right. Everybody a little nervous, meeting pope francis, something they have never done in their lives. And you see the Shanahan High School band, 100member band and they have been practicing the songs they will play for the pope. Everything is waiting. It is like they are so anxious. It is a lifetime event for many of the people gathered here this morning. Thank you, dann. He did take off late from j. F. K. In new york. They are telling us that he will arrive on time. That remains to be seen. But i want to tell you, if you want to send a message to pope francis, you can. Just tweet using 6abcmessages and we will put your comments on the screen to the pope during live coverage of his visit to philadelphia all weekend. And our coverage of the popes arrival will continue after this. We now have late word that the popes plane will be landing at 9 42. So it will be 12 minutes late. It will now come at 9 42. This is a live picture from Philadelphia International airport. The welcoming party, there you see the philadelphia archbishop charles chaput. And also there today is the Governor Tom Wolf, mayor Michael Nutter of course among those to welcome the holy father. And as dann cuellar just told us the Bishop Shanahan marching band is performing as the pope arrivals. And the bowles family from summerton in philadelphia will greet the pontiff. And Matt Odonnell with the story. Talking about the bowles family, a special and important moment and maybe a healing moment for them. We take you back to the day a couple of weeks ago when the family learned that they would meet pope francis when he arrivals in philadelphia. And then the bowles family. Only one member of the bowles family knew why they were summoned. Informed they would join archBishop Chaput in greeting pope francis. The dad, retired Police OfficerRichard Bowles was wounded in a shutout almost seven years ago and his partner was killed. And richard recalled how he leaned on the church an