Philly to welcome pope in September

PHILADELPHIA – A pontiff who has long championed humble acts – sneaking off to break bread with the homeless as an archbishop and washing the feet of young prisoners early in his papacy – is coming to the City of Brotherly Love.

Pope Francis confirmed Monday that he will make his first papal visit to the United States with a trip to Philadelphia in September for the World Meeting of Families, a conference held every three years in a different city to celebrate the importance of family.

Francis’ announcement at an interreligious Vatican conference on traditional family values ended months of lobbying and speculation. It will be the second papal visit to Philadelphia – John Paul II celebrated Mass in the city in 1979 – and the first papal visit to the U.S. in eight years.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, speaking at a news conference, called it a “joyous day.”

Nutter, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, the conference’s organizer, met with Francis at the Vatican in March and personally invited him to the city.

Vatican officials toured the city in May and President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Congress have extended invitations.

Last week, more than 10,000 Philadelphia Catholic schoolchildren sent handwritten notes encouraging the 77-year-old Francis to make the visit.

The pope also is expected to visit New York and Washington, but Vatican officials would not confirm those legs of the trip Monday.

The pope “wanted to guarantee his presence to the organizers of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia 2015, but for the rest I have nothing to say; no concrete information to give,” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters.

The Vatican’s envoy to the United Nations strongly hinted last week that Francis would visit New York to address world leaders at the General Assembly, saying the coming 70th anniversary of the world body would be “the ideal time.”