Schoolchildren cheered the 78-year-old pontiff in his first moments on US soil, chanting “Hello, hey, hey, welcome to the United States of America”. “We love Francis, how about you?” And when he did, he was greeted by President Barack Obama and the first family, as well as Vice President Joe Biden, his wife, and two granddaughters.
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Pope Francis arrived to a warm welcome in Washington D.C. Tuesday.
While his health won’t allow him to travel this time, he’s looking forward to seeing the good that comes from it. “Maybe I have given the impression of (being) a bit lefty, but that would be a mistaken interpretation”.
The American flag was visible, accompanied by the flag of Vatican City.
Pope Francis has been an outspoken critique of income inequality, and picketers implored US lawmakers to “listen to [the pope’s] message”.
“Being in the presence and seeing the Pope mobile go by”, he says.
Pope Francis said he wanted to get to know the people of the United States during his trip.
Francis carefully balanced his desire to work with Castro’s government on its path of internal reform and detente with the United States with his longstanding critique of communism as a system that stifles the spirit.
Francis is scheduled to attend a welcoming ceremony at the White House and meet with bishops tomorrow before holding mass. On Thursday, he’ll give the first-ever papal address to Congress.
After a brief private meeting with Obama in a VIP suite, the pope climbed into a black Fiat hatchback vehicle with the number plate SCV 1, which was much smaller than the limousine foreign visitors normally take in Washington – in keeping with his rejection of much of the pageantry that accompanies the papacy and his desire to live a humble life. She added that the meeting was expected to be relaxed and “very personable”.
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“This is a president who has been animated even before he started running for public office by the idea that we need to fight for social and economic justice both in this country and around the world“, Earnest told CNN. He has dismayed some conservative followers with comments of concern over climate change and a pivot away from messages focussed on the church’s ban on birth control and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
