Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

visited North America—

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

—from 19 to 27 September 2015. It was his first state visit to both Cuba and the U.S., as well as the third official papal visit to Cuba and the seventh to the United States since the U.S. established full diplomatic relations with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

in 1984. The published itinerary from the Vatican described the trip: "Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to Cuba and the United States of America, and Visit to the United Nations Organization Headquarters, on the occasion of his participation at the Eighth World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia."

Visit

Cuba

The pope's visit began with a tour of

– the third by a reigning Pope (after

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's 1998 visit, and the subsequent visit in 2012 by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

) – where he visited

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Holguín Holguín () is a municipality and city in Cuba, and the capital of Province of Holguín. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the fourth largest city in Cuba. History Before Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...

, and

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

19 September (Havana)

*10:15 a.m. – Departure from Rome to Havana *4:05 p.m. – Arrival Ceremony at Havana airport and speech

20 September (Havana)

*9:00 a.m. – Mass in Havana's

Plaza de la Revolución Plaza de la Revolución (), "Revolution Square", is a municipality (or borough) and a square in Havana, Cuba. The municipality, one of the 15 forming the city, stretches from the square down to the sea at the Malecón and includes the Vedado d ...

with homily; recitation of the

Angelus The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ o ...

*4:00 p.m. – Courtesy visit with Raúl Castro in

*5:15 p.m. – Celebration of

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...

with priests, religious, and seminarians in the Havana cathedral, with homily *6:30 p.m. – Greeting to young people at the Father Felix Varela cultural center in Havana

21 September (Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, El Cobre)

*8:00 a.m. – Departure for Holguín *9:20 a.m. – Arrival in Holguín *10:30 a.m. – Mass in Revolution Square with homily *3:45 p.m. – Blessing of the city from Cross Hill *4:40 p.m. – Departure for

*5:30 p.m. – Arrival at Santiago de Cuba *7:00 p.m. – Meeting with bishops at the seminary of St. Basil the Great in El Cobre *7:45 p.m. – Prayer to Our Lady of Charity with bishops and papal entourage in the Minor Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre

22 September (El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba)

*8:00 a.m. – Mass in the Minor Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre with homily *11:00 a.m. – Meeting with families in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption in Santiago de Cuba with speech; blessing of the city *12:15 p.m. – Farewell ceremony at Santiago de Cuba's International Airport *12:30 p.m. – Departure for

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

United States

The visit to the United States consisted of three cities:

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

(including his visit to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

), and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

which hosted the

World Meeting of Families The World Meeting of Families is a gathering of the Roman Catholic Church that has occurred every three years since 1994. It is organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which "promotes the pastoral care of families, protects their r ...

. Tickets to attend public events with the pope were hard to obtain or sold out very quickly. During his visit, it was announced that he would be releasing a rock album titled ''Wake Up!'' in November 2015.

22 September (Washington, D.C.)

* 4:00 p.m. – Arrival from

at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.

23 September (Washington, D.C.)

* 9:15 a.m. – The White House – welcome ceremony and meeting with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. The pope spoke to a crowd of more than 11,000 people on the White House South Lawn. It was the third visit by a pope to the White House, following meetings in October 1979 between

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

and

and in April 2008 between George W. Bush and

. * 11:30 a.m. – Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle – Midday Prayer with the bishops of the United States * 4:15 p.m. –

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University. ...

–

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

for the canonization of

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierr ...

Pope Francis met with

Little Sisters of the Poor The Little Sisters of the Poor (french: Petites Sœurs des pauvres) is a Catholic religious institute for women. It was founded by Jeanne Jugan. Having felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns ...

after mass; a Vatican spokesman stated that this was a sign of his support for them in their opposition to a contraception mandate for Catholic hospitals.

24 September (Washington, D.C.; New York City)

* 9:20 a.m. –

United States Capitol Building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

– Pope Francis became the first pope to address a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicamer ...

of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Catholics. In his speech to Congress and other dignitaries, he devoted most of the time discussing immigration, protection for persecuted religious groups including Christians, poverty, capital punishment, and climate change. * 11:15 a.m. – St. Patrick's Church in the city and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington visit * 4:00 p.m. – Departure from Joint Base Andrews * 5:00 p.m. – Arrival at

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

, New York * 6:45 p.m. – St. Patrick's Cathedral in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

– Evening Prayer/Vespers

Kim Davis Kimberly Jean Davis (; born September 17, 1965) is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. ...

and her husband met briefly with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington (Embassy of the Holy See) with "several dozen" other people. The Vatican issued a statement saying the Pope's meeting with Davis "should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects." According to Father Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, Davis was not invited to the nunciature, and "the meeting may have been manipulated by her and her lawyer."

25 September (New York City, United Nations)

* 8:30 a.m. –

United Nations Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

– address to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

* 11:30 a.m. – National September 11 Memorial & Museum and

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

– multi-religious service * 4:00 p.m. – Our Lady Queen of Angels Elementary School, East Harlem – visit * 4:45 – 5:15 p.m. – Papal Procession through

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

* 6:00 p.m. – Madison Square Garden – Mass

26 September (New York City, Philadelphia)

* 8:40 a.m. –

departure * 9:30 a.m. – Philadelphia International Airport arrival, Atlantic Aviation

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

* 10:30 a.m. – Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Mass * 4:45 p.m. – Independence Mall visit * 7:30 p.m. – Festival of Families at

Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin Parkway, commonly abbreviated to Ben Franklin Parkway and colloquially called the Parkway, is a boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. Named for founding father Benjamin Franklin, the mile-long Parkway c ...

visit

27 September (Philadelphia)

* 9:15 a.m. – St. Martin's Chapel, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania: meeting with bishops * 11:00 a.m. – Visit Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in

Holmesburg, Philadelphia Holmesburg began as a Village within Lower Dublin Township, Pennsylvania. It is now a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holmesburg was named in Honor of Surveyor General of Pennsylvania Thomas Holme, who was a c ...

* 3:00 p.m. – Visit and blessing at the Jesuit Saint Joseph's University * 4:00 p.m. –

, Benjamin Franklin Parkway – Mass * 7:00 p.m. – Atlantic Aviation hangar: visit with organizers, volunteers, and benefactors * 7:30 p.m. – Departure from Philadelphia International Airport for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Commemorations

Philadelphia breweries released nine special, papal-themed beers in anticipation of the visit. The Delaware County Keystone Mint crafted a coin commemorating the pope's visit to the United States and the World Meeting of Families. Two Philadelphia radio stations introduced "pop-up stations" dedicated to extended coverage of the visit and its associated events, including WZMP-HD3's "Popecast", and WDAS's "Pope Info Radio". Swyft Media released a sticker keyboard app to commemorate the visit, Popemoji, which featured cartoon images of Pope Francis for use in messaging apps (including nods to U.S. landmarks and Philadelphia).

References

External links

Official site
– United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Preparing for the Pope
(

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

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