The NBC10 Preparing for the Pope crew is airborne in a couple of hours (me, anchor/reporter Jim Rosenfield and photojournalist Jason Ryan). The last big interview we grabbed before heading for the Vatican is from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. He's an honorary co-chair on the delegation for the 2015 World Meeting of families.
So, of course, we asked him a lot of questions -- logistical, cost, etc. about the Pope visiting Philly. (And we'll get to those other topics in other posts). But the best part of the interview, hands down, I had to talk about first. It's when Jim starts asking Nutter about meeting the Pope. It goes like this:
Jim: Personal highlight, I assume, would be getting to meet The Holy Father?
Nutter: Yes, should that happen. I've really, quite frankly, almost been trying not to think about it much.
Jim: Are you nervous?
Nutter: Just a little bit! You know I went to school at Transformation for elementary, St. Joe's Prep, and under no set of circumstances could I have ever imagined the prospect of: 1) going to Rome and 2) being in The Holy Father's presence, let alone the possibility of actually meeting. So it's, uh, it's something else.
Jim: You must have, in the back of your mind, thought of what you might say.
Nutter: (hearty laugh here) Well, I've been thinking about that as well. But I think the best thing for me is to touch base with my mom and get some of her advice. She has steered me well over these 50-plus years and so I'm going to talk with her and see what she thinks I should say.
Stay tuned! We arrive Saturday morning. Mayor Nutter and the Philly team arrives Monday morning. Meetings at The Vatican start Tuesday and formal one-on-one with Pope Francis happens early Wednesday.
Follow our reports on-air, online and on social: #NBC10Pope | @NBCPhiladelphia | @jimrosenfield | @KAraiza
Karen is Managing Editor of NBC10.com and in Rome to cover the delegation's trip.
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NBC10.com is "Preparing for the Pope." Follow our reports from The Vatican, Rome and Philadelphia as the city gears up for The World Meeting of Families in 2015. More coverage here.
