Meet the Millennials Who Covered Pope Francis in the US For #GoodIsWinning

Even the non-religous digital street team members found the experience worthwhile

Prior to Pope Francis’ trip to the United States, members of a campaign called @PopeIsHope invited millennials to join its digital street team to cover the excitement and impact of the Holy Father’s visit to Washington D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia. The digital team united around #goodiswinning and the goal was simple: cultivate a movement of optimism on social media and be the millennial voice for the pope’s visit.

Among the 60 young adults chosen for the team was Shawn Hazelett, who describes himself as “not at all religious.” For Hazelett, though, it was worth the five 18-hour days of lugging equipment around three cities to see the pope for 15 seconds. As he wrote in Elite Daily:

It’s hard to pinpoint why. Maybe it was the importance of the situation. Maybe it felt like the payoff to that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Maybe we just got caught up in all the excitement. After all, people respond to passion. I think it has something to do with Pope Francis himself. When researching the pope, what jumped out to me was how he concluded each of his speeches by asking people to pray for him. It’s a simple statement and a request, but it’s also an acknowledgment he’s just a human being who needs help just like anyone else. It feels incredibly honest. People respond to honesty.

Zoe Romanowsky is Lifestyle Editor and Video Content Producer for Aleteia