Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, a member of the organising committee for Pope Francis’ September trip has revealed details of the proposed schedule, which includes visits to three cities.

“He would arrive on the 22 and he would leave the evening of the 27,” Archbishop Auza said during the Pope’s trip to Manilla. “It’s really a full six days, plus the travel, so it’s really one week.”

A Philippines native, Archbishop Auza is the Holy See’s permanent observer to the UN in New York and to the Organization of American States in Washington.

After a projected arrival to Washington, DC on the evening of September 22, they’re proposing that Pope Francis visit the White House the following morning, where the official welcoming ceremony would take place. Following his stop at the White House, the pontiff would go on to celebrate Mass at Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

“And we might say really the highlight of the Washington visit might be his speech to the joint-meeting of Congress, so the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Archbishop Auza said. Pope Francis would leave for New York City on the afternoon of the 24.

The UN general-assembly would be his destination on the morning of the 25, which is also the opening of the 3-day Post-2015 Sustainable Development Summit.

“Practically all of the heads of states and governments will be around and they will all be there on that day, so if the Pope were to finalise this visit to the US that means that he would address all the heads of states and of governments, who will be sitting with their official delegations,” the archbishop explained.

The Papal address at the UN would take up the entire morning of September 25, Archbishop Auza said. He added that proposals for what the pontiff may do afterward include an interreligious meeting, and ‘of course the Pope will visit St Patrick’s (Cathedral). That’s for sure.’

The visit to the historic church wouldn’t likely mean the celebration of Mass there, the archbishop said. Mass has been proposed instead for another area of New York. He named the Madison Square Garden as a possibility.

“Our plan is not to have a huge Mass outside of Philadelphia, because the focus will really be Philadelphia, because the Pope is going to the United States for the World Meeting of Families,” he explained.

Perhaps the most ‘unique ingredient’ of Pope Francis’ proposed schedule for New York would be an interethnic meeting with the pontiff, which is significant given the diverse ethnic background of the city.

Ground Zero, the site of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, which brought down New York City’s twin World Trade Center towers, is another foreseeable stop on the Pope’s itinerary, Archbishop Auza noted.

“But these are just proposals,” the archbishop said. “At the end of February there will be the first organisational visit (from a Vatican delegation), and then we will see what we could really fill in.”

From New York the Roman Pontiff would head to Philadelphia in the early morning of the 26th as his last stop, where he is set to participate in the World Meeting of Families from September 26-27.

“Philadelphia is confirmed. That’s for sure,” the archbishop observed, explaining that the two big events set to take place with the Pope are a prayer vigil on the 26 and Mass Sunday, the 27.

There is also an encounter planned with grandparents and children, however the archbishop said he does not know whether or not the Pope will participate. Besides the encounter with families, Archbishop Auza said that the Philadelphia visit will likely include ‘a visit either to a children’s hospital or a juvenile prison.’

On his January 15 flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, Pope Francis also made the surprise announcement that he would Canonise the founder of California’s first missions, Blessed Junipero Serra.