{"id":747,"date":"2026-06-09T22:12:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=747"},"modified":"2026-06-09T22:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:12:59","slug":"a-wawa-bag-of-tastykakes-villanova-swag-and-an-historical-artifact-national-constitution-center-meets-with-pope-leo-at-the-vatican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=747","title":{"rendered":"A Wawa bag of Tastykakes, Villanova swag, and an historical artifact: National Constitution Center meets with Pope Leo at the Vatican"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>What tokens of Philadelphia appreciation would you bring across the globe to the first Pope from the United States? <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=745\">160,000 people drop Pennie health plans following price hikes<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>A bundle of Villanova swag? A replica of George Washington\u2019s Acts of Congress? A Wawa tote bag filled with Tastykakes? <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>That\u2019s what a delegation of Philadelphians on behalf of the National Constitution Center brought to Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican ahead of his live broadcast speech on Independence Mall next month amid the city\u2019s 250th celebrations. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The pontiff, who has ties to the Philadelphia region as an alumnus of Villanova University, gave a \u201cbig belly laugh\u201d at the sight of the Tastykakes, a gift from the Archbishop of Philadelphia Nelson J. P\u00e9rez. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhere else would this happen that you meet up with the Archbishop toting tasty cakes in a Wawa bag?\u201d said Vince Stango, Constitution Center interim president and CEO, in an interview Tuesday. \u201cSo there was a real humanity to it, a real Philadelphia vibe that was unmistakable.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But the group\u2019s visit to the Apostolic Palace, the Pope\u2019s official residence, was not just about Philly\u2019s delectable sweets or relentless Big 5 basketball pride. It served as a precursor to Leo\u2019s speech that will be broadcast live on Independence Mall and Youtube next month on July 3 as delivers an acceptance speech for the Constitution Center\u2019s annual Liberty Medal award. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The delegation from the Constitution Center, which included Stango, P\u00e9rez, and four center board members, gifted Leo the medal, which signifies the pontiff\u2019s efforts toward promoting religious liberty. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI would just like to recall the words signed by the Founding Fathers of the nation 250 years ago in Philadelphia in the Declaration of Independence when they said that we hold these truths to be self-evident \u2026 that all men have received fundamental rights from our creator,\u201c the Pope said upon receiving the Liberty Medal. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201dAnd they include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May those values continue to inspire us in the United States and throughout the would, and together hopefully,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The July 3 public ceremony, beginning at 11 a.m., will also feature remarks from Stango, P\u00e9rez, civic leaders, and from various faith leaders including:<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p>Imam Quaiser D. Abdullah: Director, Mayor\u2019s Office of Muslim Engagement, board member of Interfaith Philadelphia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Reverend Carolyn C. Cavaness<b>:<\/b> Pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church, board member of Interfaith Philadelphia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Reverend Luis A. Cort\u00e9s Jr.: Founder, president, and CEO of Esperanza; Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia, and a member of the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=743\">Brooklyn man convicted of fatally stabbing Philly dancer at gas station<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Rabbi Jill L. Maderer: Senior Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom, board member of Interfaith Philadelphia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Cathedral Basilica Choir andthe Archdiocesan Choir of Philadelphia will also perform. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Stango said the Pope took his receipt of the Liberty Medal award very seriously and the pontiff also took it upon himself to confirm the details of the delegation\u2019s visit to the Vatican on April 30, in an email on the morning of Good Friday. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHis character as an individual, and his humbleness really came through,\u201d Stango said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Philadelphia delegation was greeted at the Vatican by The Swiss Guard, an armed patrol that has watched over the Pope since 1506, said Stango, who described the \u201cgrandeur\u201d of driving through the property toward the Apostolic Palace, where every room was \u201clike you\u2019re in the Sistine Chapel.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>They met Leo in the gathering room and presented him with two medals \u2014 one for him to keep and another for him to bless that will be displayed at the Constitution Center \u2014along with his Philly-centric gifts.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Stango said he was able to walk the Pope through the copy of Acts of Congress, which is a replica of Washington\u2019s personal volume, and comb through the first president\u2019s notes in the margins. The delegation then spoke with Leo about the work being done at the Constitution Center and the principles that the United States was founded on. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt had the intimacy of the Philadelphia connection, but it also had the magnitude of the global impact of of the award, and what it represents, and what Pope Leo represents as a recipient,\u201d Stango said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Leo\u2019s participation in next month\u2019s live ceremony is notable given that the next day \u2014 on the Fourth of July \u2014 the pontiff will be in Lampedusa, a small Italian island located between Sicily and North Africa, and considered one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Vatican has said that the Pope, who was elected in May 2025, will not be traveling to the United States in 2026. Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, personally delivered Leo an invitation to visit the White House earlier this year. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>That invite came before tensions spiked between the Pope and the White House after the pontiff criticized the United States\u2019 war on Iran.President Donald Trump, in turn, said on his social media platform Truth Social in April that the Pope is \u201cWEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Leo said, at that time, that he has \u201cno fear of the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe are not politicians, we don\u2019t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=741\">A new local improvement district may be needed to care for the Chinatown Stitch cap over I-676<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philadelphians met the Pope at the Vatican ahead of next month\u2019s Liberty Medal ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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