It’s Official! Pope Francis Announces 2015 Visit To US

Vatican City, Nov 17, ²⁰¹⁴⁄₀₁:11 am (CNA/​EWTN News).- Updated November 17, 2014 at 6:25a.m. MST. Adds com­ments from Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ at para­graphs 9 – 10.

Pope Francis on Monday offi­cial­ly announced that he will vis­it the U.S. in September 2015, includ­ing a vis­it to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and New York City.

“I wish to con­firm, if God wills it, that in September of 2015 I will go to Philadelphia for the Eighth World Meeting of Families.” he announced at Vatican City’s Synod Hall Nov. 17 dur­ing his remarks at an inter­na­tion­al col­lo­qui­um on the com­ple­men­tar­i­ty of man and woman.

The Philadelphia World Meeting of Families will take place from Sept. 22 – 27. Even before the Pope’s announce­ment, the meet­ing was expect­ed to draw tens of thou­sands of peo­ple. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia had told a gath­er­ing of Catholic bish­ops last week that a papal vis­it would like­ly result in crowds of about 1 million.

A glob­al Catholic event, the world meet­ing seeks to sup­port and strength­en fam­i­lies. St. John Paul II found­ed the event in 1994, and it takes place every three years.

Archbishop Chaput had pre­vi­ous­ly hint­ed that Pope Francis would attend the 2015 meet­ing, although he cau­tioned that the vis­it had not been offi­cial­ly con­firmed. In March 2014, a Pennsylvania del­e­ga­tion includ­ing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia may­or Michael Nutter vis­it­ed the Vatican to help encour­age the Pope to vis­it the U.S.

On Thursday, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the head of the Holy See’s per­ma­nent observ­er mis­sion to the United Nations, told the Associated Press “if he comes to Philadelphia, he will come to New York.”

The 70^th anniver­sary of the U.N.’s found­ing would be “the ide­al time” for a papal vis­it, the arch­bish­op said Nov. 13. Next year also marks the 50^th anniver­sary of Pope Paul VI’s 1965 vis­it to the U.N., the first such vis­it from a Pope.

In August, on his return flight from South Korea, Pope Francis said he want­ed to vis­it the U.S. in 2015 for the Philadelphia gath­er­ing. He also not­ed that he had received invi­ta­tions from President Barack Obama, Congress and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, as well as from Mexico.

However, despite the antic­i­pa­tion of the Pope’s pos­si­ble vis­it to New York and Washington while in the U.S., Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. told jour­nal­ists shorly after the announce­ment that as of now noth­ing else is confirmed.

The Pope, he explained, “did­n’t say any­thing about any oth­er steps or moments in his trip to America. He guar­an­teed his pres­ence to the orga­niz­ers of the World Day for Families, but as for the rest, I have no con­crete information.”

Pope Francis has vis­it­ed the Holy Land and Albania as well as South Korea. He will vis­it France and Turkey in November, and Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. He will return to France for a longer vis­it in 2015. http://​www​.catholic​newsagency​.com/​n​e​w​s​/​i​t​s​-​o​f​f​i​c​i​a​l​-​p​o​p​e​-​f​r​a​n​c​i​s​-​a​n​n​o​u​n​c​e​s​-​2​0​1​5​-​v​i​s​i​t​-​t​o​-​u​s​-​3​2​1​95/

PUBLISHER’S NOTE:

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. told jour­nal­ists short­ly after the announce­ment that as of now noth­ing else is con­firmed. The Pope, he explained, “did­n’t say any­thing about any oth­er steps or moments in his trip to America. He guar­an­teed his pres­ence to the orga­niz­ers of the World Day for Families, but as for the rest, I have no con­crete information.”

Pope Francis recent­ly demot­ed American Cardinal Raymond Burke. He removed Burke from the church’s high­est court plac­ing him in the posi­tion of chap­lain of the Knights of Malta, a Vatican char­i­ty group. 

Demoted for speak­ing out against Francis’ lib­er­al­ism with the Gospel of God and Homosexuals.

In an inter­view with a Spanish Catholic week­ly pub­lished last week, Burke said of the pope’s lead­er­ship: “Many have expressed their con­cerns to me. … There is a strong sense that the church is like a ship with­out a rudder.”

This same Pope Francis recent­ly asked Reporters “who was he to judge” when ques­tioned on the Issue of Homosexuality. In a Catholic Document cir­cu­lat­ed to Catholic Bishops , Francis urged them to be more tol­er­ant of Homosexuals. In oth­er words, Pope Francis is will­ing to state that he is not qual­i­fied to judge on the ques­tion of Homosexuality ‚even as he urges the Catholic Church to engage more with Homosexuals.

Pope Francis’s edict is tan­ta­mount to mak­ing him­self God. The Word of God is clear on Homosexuality. No one asked or expects Pope Francis to devise teach­ings on Homosexuality for Christians . God’s word is unchanged and unchang­ing. Homosexuality is an abom­i­na­tion onto the Lord our God.

In response to crit­i­cisms of his lib­er­al stance Francis said quote: “God is not afraid of new things.”

This is the same Francis who is com­ing to America to address the faith­ful on the World’s day of Families next year. It is at best a con­tra­dic­tion in terms and at worse, an insult to Christians who under­stand that Marriage is between one man and one woman as devised by God.