– Pope Francis has arrived in the United States after landing at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday afternoon for the beginning of a three-day visit in Washington D.C.
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An Alitalia plane carrying the Argentine-born leader of the world’s 1.2 billion member Roman Catholic church touched down at Joint Base Andrews after a flight from Cuba.
What was the Holy Father’s response to the rampant rumors in the media just ahead of his USA visit that he is left-leaning, maybe even a “communist Pope” or even “not a Catholic“?
Gov. Doug Ducey, a lifelong Catholic, was invited by President Barack Obama to attend the White House reception welcoming the pope, an invitation he called an honor. The pope will make stops in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia during his five day trip beginning Tuesday.
President Obama and Pope Francis had their first official meeting on US soil on September 22 and, obviously, it was historic- and highly photographed.
The congressman also said he’s concerned with the pope’s thoughts on capitalism.
His itinerary also includes New York – where he will preside over an inter-faith ceremony at Ground Zero and greet the crowds on a procession through Central Park, as well as address the UN General Assembly – and an worldwide festival of Catholic families in Philadelphia.
Pope Francis has been an outspoken critique of income inequality, and picketers implored USA lawmakers to “listen to [the pope’s] message”.
Francis arrived from Cuba, where he held his first papal Mass in the region in front of thousands and had an audience with President Raul Castro and Fidel Castro.
“Our goal is 100% reliability and we appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding while our operations teams work to minimize any delays”, FedEx said on its website. The Secret Service was scheduled to take the lead in protecting the pope. Pope Francis and the President will have a personal meeting during this time.
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“He is such a popular figure, and the combination of his charisma and the platform that he will be speaking from will help bring all these issues to the forefront”, Defeis said.
