Messmer Students bus to Philadelphia for a chance to see Pope
Among the hundreds of thousands of people in Philadelphia for evening mass led by Pope Francis is a group of 20 students from Messmer High School in Milwaukee.
Early Sunday evening this group of high schoolers from Milwaukee walked through these downtown Philadelphia streets on their way to a unique Sunday mass with the pope.
"I'll never forget, never. I'll always remember every single last person I came on this pilgrimage with,” says one student.
The group got to Philadelphia Thursday night and had a chance to hear Pope Francis speak.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity so I love being here,” said another student.
One moment many of the students say will go down as one of the best memories happened Saturday night when they saw Pope Francis up close.
"Oh my gosh I'm seeing him. I'm one of those people who can actually see him."
This opportunity was organized by Laura Hancock, the campus minister at Messmer High School, she worked with another school leader from Pius High School in Milwaukee.
Hancock says the pope visiting Philly was the perfect time to lead students on a pilgrimage.
"God is touching hearts, and through the work and the words of Pope Francis, that these are our leaders that are going to come back and bring that love, bring that blessing to Milwaukee and really transform our city for the better," said Hancock.
After being in the pope's presence Messmer High seniors Jameryo Ricks and Jamario Walker say they want people in Milwaukee to hear this message, “Stop all the violence and stuff."
"We are all human beings, we should act like it rather than animals toward each other. And we could bring peace to the world if we all just come together."
Messmer students and staff were joined by groups from Pius High School in Milwaukee and Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha.
The groups of students will make an 18 hour bus ride back to Milwaukee arriving Monday morning.
A CBS 58 crew has been in Philadelphia covering the Pope for the past few days, see all of the reports below: