D.C. residents pledge to 'walk' with Pope Francis

Pope Francis will not set foot on U.S. soil for two more months, but for Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C., it is time to walk in his way.

That is the aim of a program launched Wednesday by Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of Washington. The "Walk With Francis" initiative challenges area residents to commit via a social media pledge to acts of faith and service. The goal: To have more than 100,000 D.C.-area residents sign a pledge card, which will be presented to the pope as a book on his visit to Catholic Charities on Sept. 24.

"The pope's words are spectacular, but his actions are better," said Monsignor John Enzler, president of Catholic Charities. "He walks the walk."

People in the D.C. area can commit to either pray, serve the community or act for social justice, said Enzler, whose own pledge is to spend a night with the homeless on the streets of D.C. The first step is take the pledge via #WalkwithFrancis or ​https://walkwithfrancis.org/; the second is to share photos and videos on social media; the third is to challenge a friend.

Organizers, who hope the program can gain the steam of the popular "Ice Bucket Challenge," which raised money for Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS, have already had some prominent people, such as Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, sign up.

"One of the beautiful gifts of Pope Francis is his ability to include everyone. He is a person who cares deeply and invites all of us to see one another as sisters and brothers," said Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, who helped launch the initiative and will present the pope with the book of "thousands" of social media pledges.

The pope's first visit to the U.S. in September will include stops at a Philadelphia prison, a school in Harlem, and the White House, as well as Washington's Catholic Charities office.

"The pope will stand right here two months from now," Enzler said Wednesday as he stood near a "homeless Jesus" statue on a bench at Catholic Charities. "To have the pope come to us to recognize the work of Catholic Charities and bless our clients in such a special way – I could not be more excited."

The Argentine pontiff, who became the 266th pope in 2013, has made social justice and outreach to society's poor and marginalized his top mission. That is a message shared by Catholic Charities, which served more than 116,000 people last year in the Washington area through 65 programs, covering everything from housing counseling to mentoring to job guidance to nutrition.

One of those people helped was Barbara Deale, a native Washingtonian who went from being homeless to seeing her youngest son graduate from Gonzaga High School and go off to Clark Atlanta University this fall – and she'll be helping foot the bill.

Deale, who had used cocaine, lost her home in February 2001. After two years of treatment, she found herself again on the brink of homelessness when she emerged from rehab in 2003. Her counselor connected her with Catholic Charities, which helped her find housing and turn her life around. Now, she is "11 years clean" and is the proud mother of four children and grandmother of eight. "They've given me everything I have today," Deale said Wednesday. Catholic Charities has "given me all the tools I need to make it through the day."

Follow Susan Miller on Twitter @susmiller