UNITED STATES
Wall Street Journal
By LIAM MOLONEY and DEBORAH BALL CONNECT
July 25, 2014
ROME—Will he or won’t he?
The intense speculation over whether Pope Francis will visit the U.S. next year inched toward an answer Friday, after Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said the pontiff will come to the city for the World Meeting of Families slated for September 2015.
“Pope Francis has told me that he is coming,” said the archbishop at a mass in North Dakota on Thursday. In March, Archbishop Chaput met with the pope at the Vatican, along with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.
The cleric’s comments, first reported by the Catholic News Service, ricocheted instantly Friday, underlining the fervor surrounding a possible visit by Pope Francis to the U.S.
The Vatican, which typically confirms papal visits about six months before they are due to take place, tried to contain the enthusiasm Friday. It issued a statement confirming that the pope has “indicated his willingness to participate” at the family meeting, but said that nothing had been formalized yet.
During his 16-month papacy, Pope Francis has seen no shortage of invitations to the U.S., which would be his first visit as pope. President Barack Obama invited the pope to the White House during their meeting at the Vatican in March. The pope replied, in Spanish, “certainly”—a response that instantly set the U.S. Catholic media abuzz
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), who is a Catholic, invited Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress, while United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in May invited the pontiff during a Vatican meeting. New York City Bill de Blasio extended yet another invite when he met with Vatican officials during his vacation in Italy this week.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.