New Yorkers remembered Pope Francis fondly from his 2015 visit to the city, recalling one-on-one and small group interactions with him during his time here.

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, organized a meeting of marginalized workers and undocumented people, something that the Pope requested specifically.

“We were just very delighted that Pope Francis wanted to meet with migrants and refugees from almost every continent in a very simple Catholic school in East Harlem, Our Lady Queen of Angels. We were able to gather about 150 people to meet with the Holy Father, to present him with some gifts, and to receive his blessing. It was a very wonderful, enthusiastic event, and it was a privilege to be there, to welcome the Holy Father and for him to interact with people from every continent, except Antarctica,” he told The Good Newsroom.

An attendee at that event was Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). His union represented many of the event’s participants, including car wash workers.

“Francis brought these and other marginalized communities together in an extraordinary, life-changing gathering,” Appelbaum told The Good Newsroom in a telephone interview. “Attendees brought papers with family photos. When the Pope blessed everyone [in attendance], he blessed these families too. It was moving that, during his New York visit, he prioritized empowering the marginalized.”

Ignacia Hernandez of Yonkers presented Pope Francis with some of the linens that would be used at a Mass he would say at Madison Square Garden that night. “At the time, Catholic Charities had started a sewing class for women, and I was in that class with other women. And it was through them that we were able to be part of this blessing of being able to see the Pope,” Hernandez told The Good Newsroom in a telephone interview, speaking in Spanish. She was nervous to meet the Pope.

“I was nervous because it was something incredible for me. In fact, that day, before it happened, it was a sea of tears for me, because it was a dream, because not everyone has this privilege, this blessing, to be with him. He is the Pope, and not everybody can go and touch him, even if they are in front of him. And for me to have that blessing, of course, was something that I couldn’t stop crying and being excited about. He was really an unforgettable pope for me, that he came to see us,” she said.

Memories of warmth, as “the Pope of the poor”

All three treasure the opportunity to have met Pope Francis and their brief encounter with him.

“I remember him as somebody who was incredibly warm, interacting with the people who were there, very much at ease with the diversity of people present. Somebody who really came to life the closer he got to the people who were in the room, not distant, not aloof, but somebody who was very happy to interact with the people who were there,” Monsignor Sullivan said.

“His life was a living lesson,” said Appelbaum, who is Jewish. “He was an inspiration. Appelbaum later met Pope Francis again in 2017 at the Vatican during a labor conference.

“I will always remember him as the Pope of the poor, of the humble people because he really strengthened my faith by saying that everyone, everyone, everyone is welcome in the Church, no matter who we are and that we are all equal in the Church,” Hernandez said.

— Fernanda Pierorazio contributed to this report.