Some of the (Pope Francis Project Detroit 2015) team with City of Detroit First Lady Lori Maher and Deputy Mayor Ike McKinnon.

DETROIT — A group of students from Detroit Cristo Rey High School are spearheading an initiative to bring Pope Francis to the city in 2015.

This week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan responded to the initiative by signing a letter asking the pope to pay a visit to the city as well. 

The initiative even prompted a response from Governor Rick Snyder, who also wrote a letter to the Vatican asking for the pope’s presence in Detroit. 

This month, Pope Francis confirmed that he would make an appearance in Philadelphia next September. Detroit Cristo Rey students are hoping he’ll visit Detroit that month as well. 

Ali Alwan, a 16-year old junior at the high school, is one of six students involved in the initiative. He and his fellow classmates have been visiting churches and local schools to convey the message all year long. 

Local teachers at catholic schools in Detroit have also written personal letters addressing the pope, after the students at Cristo Rey propelled the initiative into the spotlight. 

Alwan told The Arab American News the initiative has gained much traction in recent months thanks to Mayor Duggan’s involvement. 

This week, the school met with the mayor’s office to discuss plans of how they would be able to initiate a response from the pope. 

“Going to the mayor’s office has brought the project to a whole new level,” Alwan said. “I’ve been on the radio and I’ve been in a couple of newspapers with my friends. We’ve even hit the Internet.” 

The high school is now in the process of producing a video that will include personal messages from students and teachers . 

Other local catholic schools such as Dearborn Divine Child, Detroit Loyola High and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, have made videos as well. 

“If the pope were to visit Detroit, I think it would bring a lot of hope to the city,” Alwan said. “Detroit has a really strong religious community. If he were to visit here now, it would send a message that Detroit isn’t a bad place. His visit would fulfill a lot of souls because there are a lot of people here who love Pope Francis and they are thrilled with the idea of bringing him here.” 

Alwan, an Iraqi-American who comes from a Muslim family, said a visit from the pope would also interest the local Muslim community and help build interfaith bridges. 

“I think it expands our project a lot more,” Alwan said. “Not only are we bringing this project to the Catholic believers, but also the Muslim believers. It expands our mission and makes it more renowned. You don’t have to be Catholic to love Pope Francis. I feel like the Muslim community will also love it if he came here.” 

Local attorney Margaret Cone has been closely involved with the students working on the initiative at Detroit Cristo Rey. She told The Arab American News that she’s astonished at the students’ dedication to the project.

“This was an idea to teach young people how to engage in the political-social media sphere,” Cone said. “It was something these young kids could come together and be committed on accomplishing. They’ve been capable of doing all this hard work. We wouldn’t have gotten a meeting with the mayor if those kids didn’t work hard for several months.”

The group has also been promoting their initiative on their Facebook page “Let’s Bring Pope Francis to Detroit in 2015”, which has garnered more than 1,300 likes. 

While at first it seemed like a long-shot, Alwan said that his high school is now hopeful that they will at least receive a response from the pope himself.

“We’ve done a lot to try to bring him here,” Alwan added.  “We are in our final stages to almost get him to confirm. Other than making a video, our final step will be to send the letters to Rome.”