Celebrities, Religious Leaders Celebrate Pope Francis' Visit With Climate Change Rally on D.C.'s National Mall
Pope Francis waves to the crowds gathered to see him as he arrives at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington September 23.Pope Francis waves to the crowds gathered to see him as he arrives at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington September 23.Tony Gentile/Reuters
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Polly Mosendz is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek. She was previously a staff writer for The Wire and associate editor for The Atlantic. Her reporting on the Islamic State has been recognized by a variety of organizations, including the Middle East Institute. Her writing has appeared in The New York Observer, The Commercial Observer, Cosmopolitan, Business Insider, Yahoo News and a variety of other publications. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, she is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian. Mosendz attended the New School University where she studied media writing and American history. She lives in Greenwich Village with many books.
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Musicians, religious leaders and climate change activists gathered on the National Mall on Thursday morning to attend the Moral Action on Climate Justice rally. Organized by the Follow Francis organization, the rally began as Pope Francis was addressing Congress.
"In keeping with his 'cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor,' we will call on America to honor its moral duty to urgently address the climate crisis. Communities that have done the least to cause climate change—the poor, people of color, displaced immigrants—are disproportionately bearing the burden of climate change," rally organizers said in a statement.
The rally will include musical performances by Moby, Sean Paul, Natasha Bedingfield, Christina Grimmie, Eric Paslay, Victoria Justice, Chevy Chase, Q'orianka Kilcher and Toby Gad. Religious leaders will also be presenting at the event, including Reverend Pedro Jimeno Barreto, Reverend Mitch Hescox, and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling. A number of climate change activism organizations are also on the scene.
The event is open to the public but if you're not in D.C., you can watch the livestream below:
