Archbishop Chaput: ‘good reasons’ to believe Pope Francis will visit Philadelphia

June 12, 2014

At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual spring meeting, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said that there are “good reasons” to believe that Pope Francis will visit Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families in 2015.

“The dates for the 2015 meeting are September 22-27,” Archbishop Chaput said. “Obviously a papal visit is never official until the Holy See confirms it. And that rarely happens this far in advance. But we do have good reasons to believe that Pope Francis will take part in the meeting, and we're planning to welcome him wholeheartedly. We expect up to 15,000 attendees for the first three days of the family congress, but well over 1 million for the Pope's visit on the concluding Saturday and Sunday.”

The “World Meeting of Families 2015 comes at a time when the Church in the United States urgently needs an opportunity for joy and renewal,” he added. “It's also a time of great confusion about the nature of marriage and the family … Our goal is to offer the beauty of Catholic teaching about marriage and the family with confidence and a spirit of invitation to every person of good will.”

 

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Further information:

• Address Of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Of Philadelpia On The 2015 World Meeting Of Families (USCCB)