5-Year-Old SoCal Girl Breaks Through Parade Crowd To Give Pope Message About Tolerance
WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) -- A Southern California girl who managed to break through security was handed up to the pope during Pope Francis' parade in Washington on Wednesday shared a message about tolerance.
Alicia Flores of La Hermandad, an immigration advocacy group, says the girl is 5-year-old Sophie Cruz of suburban Los Angeles.
Sophie got beyond a barricade and approached the popemobile Wednesday morning, carrying a T-shirt bearing a message about the status of immigrant parents of children born in the United States. She also carried a letter addressed to Pope Francis that bore her name and address.
She gave the pope a picture showing a group of children holding hands with the pope. On it she wrote, 'Mis amiguitos y yo nos amamos sin importar el color de nuestra piel.' Translation: My little friends and me love without caring about the color of our skin.
❤️RT @ngjennings: The picture Sophie Cruz gave Pope Francis this morning: http://t.co/yJulH9EqlQ pic.twitter.com/G6rqzh8Tpp
— Kate Amara (@kateamaraWBAL) September 23, 2015
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Sophie shied back when a bodyguard came near. But when the pope gestured to her, she allowed the bodyguard to pick her up and bring her forward for a papal kiss and blessing. A guard passed the shirt and her message into the popemobile.
Francis and Sophie's secret: girl who hugged pope delivers immigration plea http://t.co/VFqXnFRaLh pic.twitter.com/Z9tILKQ9Mz
— Jake Cornwall (@JakeM_1998) September 23, 2015
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