BuzzFeed News later reported that the official White House itinerary circulated on September 21 said the the pope was arriving at 4 p.m.
Advertisement
This trip will be the seventh time TWA and American Airlines have flown the Pope around the United States. Then he and Obama proceeded with their entourages past the crowd and into the terminal.
Cuban President Raúl Castro greeted Pope Francis with a ceremony Saturday after the Pope’s arrival in the county.
After a short walk and discussion with Obama outside the view of the crowds, Francis returned to the airfield and sat in the backseat of a dark grey Fiat 500L.
It’s true, Catholics from all across the USA and around the world really have been looking forward to this trip for months, but Pope Francis isn’t here just to speak to his flock.
“Especially because he’s a Latin/Hispanic”, said Benito Perez, who says he’s started coming to church more lately.
Pope Francis has declared December 8th through next November the Jubilee year of Mercy.
During his homilies and public speeches, Francis largely avoided criticizing his communist hosts, making only veiled remarks about the lack of religious freedom and opportunity for the Catholic church to carry out its mission in Cuba. President Jimmy Carter welcomed Pope John Paul II in 1979, and President George W. Bush hosted Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
The Federal Aviation Administration has approved “Shepherd One” as the plane’s call sign, and air traffic controllers will use that name, when speaking to American pilots operating the plane. After meeting with the President, the Pope will head to New York City where he’ll hold mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral before ending his US tour in Philadelphia. He concluded his visit to Cuba earlier in the day.
Evans, who attends Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Denver, will join dozens of other local Catholics from around the Diocese of Charlotte and board buses to Philadelphia early Wednesday morning to see the Pope later this week. The pontiff will ride in his specially equipped “popemobile” around the Ellipse south of the White House along the National Mall.
They first met in March 2014 at the Vatican.
Advertisement
POGGIOLI: The pope said the meeting was not formal.
