This priest rode around South Philadelphia blessing people from the back of a pickup truck

Brian Donnelly has gone to St. Nick’s parish on South Ninth Street since he was an altar boy there in the 1980s. So when the Rev. Nicholas Martorano asked Donnelly to drive him around the neighborhood so he could bless parishioners who haven’t been able to attend Mass for weeks, Donnelly figured, “Why not?”

So, he borrowed a neighbor’s red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and, after the parish had advertised the procession on Facebook for a few days in advance, loaded Martorano into the bed on Tuesday evening and drove him around South Philly.

“I don’t think any of us realized the turnout we were going to have,” he said. Read More