Pope confirms plan to visit Philadelphia next year

August 14, 2014

Pope Francis has confirmed that he plans to visit Philadelphia in September 2015 for the World Meeting of Families, NBC News reports.

Aboard the papal flight to Korea on August 13, NBC correspondent Anne Thompson asked the Pope, in Italian, whether he would be coming to Philadelphia next year. The Pope answered, “Si,” she reports.

Although the Vatican has not yet confirmed plans for the papal trip, Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput disclosed last month: “Pope Francis has told me that he is coming.”

The Vatican typically withholds official confirmation of plans for any papal trip until a few months before it takes place. In July, Father Federico Lombardi, the papal spokesman, told reporters that the Pontiff “has shown his willingness to participate” in the World Meeting of Families. But he said that no concrete plans for the trip were yet in place.

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis Tells NBC News He'll Pay Philadelphia a Visit (NBC)