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Pope Francis’ Visit To America Filled With Celebrities

By Ven Lanyon
Published on: 10:36 PST, Sep 27, 2015

Pope Francis traveled for six days in the United States, visiting Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and made friends everywhere he went. The Pope made a point of spending time with the poor, sick, homeless, and marginalized people.

E! Online reports that Pope Francis also connected with a list of celebrities along the way. Sandra Lee, Harry Connick, Jr, and Barack Obama’s dogs were among those who at least “received a wave” from Francis as he made his way from one appointment to another in his busy schedule.

Chef Sandra Lee was especially delighted to have an opportunity to speak personally with the Pope, after her recent struggle with cancer. Lee actually met Pope Francis twice during his visit to the U.S. The first time was at the evening church service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, when she received the Pope’s blessing. The next day, Sandra attended a memorial service at Ground Zero, and said the she was “amazed he remembered her from the night before,” and described how the Pope “ever so sweetly placed his hand on my head” for a second blessing. The Food Network celebrity posted an Epoch Times article about Pope Francis to Facebook and wrote how “overwhelming” the experience was.

“I was so stunned, he brought me to tears at St. Patrick’s the night before and again earlier that day at the 9/11 ceremony. I cannot recall ever being this moved—I must be the luckiest girl in the world and truly do not deserve his attention or affection. I am so deeply grateful that no words could ever express my overwhelming emotions.”

According to the Epoch Times, the Pope brought a “deeply human message about peace unity” to a place “that’s a visible reminder of human nature at its worst.”

Other celebrities were just as thrilled for the opportunity to be near Pope Francis, even if some of them only got to see him from across the room. Journalist Jillian Wolf called it “the most amazing moment I’ve witnessed in my career as a journalist,” when the Pope passed her en route.

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The Vampire Diaries’ Candice King posted a photo of Francis placing a hand on her pregnant belly to give a blessing to her child. She captioned the photo #blessed #pontifex.

https://instagram.com/p/8Hb0fPLRfr/

Harry Connick, Jr, performed for Pope Francis, and expressed his barely contained excitement in an Instagram photo of himself with the pope’s car in the background.

“How amazing is this?” he wrote. “That’s the Pope’s car! how honored i was to be asked to perform for him!

https://instagram.com/p/8ErjXAPKRO/

Kerry Washington said that she got to see her celebrity crush.

https://instagram.com/p/8EgVbogBiJ/

President Obama’s dogs declined to comment out loud but appeared to enjoy the Pope’s attention.

[Image via Andrew Burton / Getty]

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