Immigrants march together from South Philadelphia to wait for pope’s speech [photos]

Hundreds of people marched from South Philadelphia this morning to hear the pope’s speech on immigration at Independence Hall scheduled for late this afternoon.

St. Thomas Aquinas churchgoers and visitors opened this morning’s procession with a group prayer:

In name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who live and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen!

The group included people born in the U.S. and immigrants from Mexico, Ecuador, the Philippines and Rwanda.

Lin Ruiz from Brooklyn said she hopes Pope Francis will call attention to what life is like for undocumented immigrants.

“There’s a lot of people that are suffering, a lot of people that are taken advantage, just because of the fact that they’re not represented by a piece of paper,” she said.

The group has high hopes that the pope will send a pointed message to American politicians.