Officials: World Meeting of Families off without a hitch

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- The World Meeting of Families continued in Center City on Thursday, and officials say things have, so far, gone off without a hitch.

Nearly 18,000 delegates from across the world are here savoring the Catholic fellowship and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the pontiff.

Meanwhile, officials say the World Meeting of Families has been going very smoothly, and that Philadelphia's image has been shining on the world stage.

Jack Ferguson from the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau says, "If you've really been paying close attention to the media around the country and around the world, they talk about the stops in Cuba and in Washington DC and in New York today. But it all comes back to Philadelphia and the World Meeting of Families."

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says all hands will be on deck. So he says Center City will be safe, and so too will the rest of the city not directly involved with the pope's visit.

Ramsey explains, "We've cancelled days off. We've got everyone on 12 hour shifts. We actually created a special shift for those working outside of the festival grounds. We created a power shift that will come on in the late afternoon that will work into the early morning hours to give us extra coverage out there. So we're in good shape."

Police say there have been no World Meeting of Families incidents here so far.

The mayor says the World Meeting of Families will pick up all of the overtime and extra costs incurred by putting on this event.