A Philadelphia Police officer wounded in the line of duty and his family will greet Pope Francis when he visits Philadelphia in less than two weeks, the Archdiocese revealed in a surprise announcement during a Northeast Philadelphia Mass on Sunday.
Officer Richard Bowes was shot on duty in North Philadelphia Sept. 23, 2008 when he responded to a shooting that left Sgt. Patrick McDonald, a young highway patrolman, dead. Bowes was able to fatally shoot the convicted felon who killed McDonald, but the bullet that lodged in his leg shattered his pelvis, badly injuring him.
In a surprise announcement during Sunday Mass at Somerton's St. Christopher's Church, on Proctor Road near Byberry, Bowes and his family learned that they were selected to greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at Atlantic Aviation in Philadelphia Saturday, Sept. 26.
