Welcoming Pope Francis

January 20, 2015

Thanks be to God!

We all heard the good news yesterday from Pope Francis himself, that he will visit us here in New York City.

Yes, we’ve expected it for awhile, as he himself has expressed his hope to come see us.

I have assured him of a warm welcome!

Although the exact itinerary will not be set by the Holy See until around March 1, we would expect Pope Francis to visit us some time before he intends to go to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. He plans to be there September 26-27, so we should welcome him some time right before that.

We’ve also been told we’ll only get him probably for a day, and that a chunk of that will be at the United Nations.  I would certainly look forward to the opportunity to show off our beautifully restored Saint Patrick’s Cathedral at some point during his visit as well.  He also has to fit Washington, D.C., into the schedule.

So, we’ll start some tentative planning, and keep you posted along the way, because we want as many people as we can to see our Holy Father.