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Pope Francis Confirms U.S. Visit In Fall Of 2015

Pope Francis salutes the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St.Peter's square during his Sunday Angelus prayer.
Filippo Monteforte
/
AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis salutes the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St.Peter's square during his Sunday Angelus prayer.

While addressing participants of a Vatican conference on traditional marriage, Pope Francis confirmed that he would visit the United States in the fall of next year.

ABC News reports:

"'I wish to confirm according to the wishes of the Lord, that in September of 2015, I will go to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families,' Francis, 77, speaking in Italian, told the crowd at the Vatican. 'Thank you for your prayers with which you accompany my service to the Church. Bless you from my heart.'

"Only three other reigning popes have ever visited the United States: Paul VI in 1965; John Paul II, who traveled to the country seven different times; and Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the United States in April 2008."

Of course, this announcement comes as no surprise. As we reported, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in July that Francis had expressed his "willingness" to participate in the conference.

Francis has also received invitations to visit New York, the United Nations and Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.