Pope to meet with homeless, prisoners and immigrants in US

[webfact]

Pope to meet with homeless, prisoners and immigrants in US
By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will meet with homeless people, immigrants and prisoners during his upcoming trip to Cuba and the United States and become the first pope to address the U.S. Congress. He'll also preside over a meeting about religious liberty — a major issue for U.S. bishops in the wake of the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision.

The Vatican published the itinerary Tuesday for the eagerly awaited Sept. 19-28 visit.

Francis added the Cuba leg onto the start of his U.S. trip after helping contribute to the historic thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations.

In Cuba, he'll celebrate Mass in Revolution Square in Havana — as both of his immediate predecessors did during their trips to the Caribbean island nation. He'll travel to Holguin and pray before the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, the patron of Cuba, and meet with Cuban families in the eastern city of Santiago.

Francis arrives in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 22 and the next day will be welcomed at the White House by President Barack Obama.

He will address Congress on Sept. 24, and will meet with homeless people later in the day at a local parish, St. Patrick's.

On Sept. 25, Francis will speak on sustainable development at the United Nations, where he'll have another opportunity to voice his concerns about the environment.

Republicans in the U.S. Congress, and even some Republican U.S. presidential candidates, have largely shrugged off Francis' denunciation of the current global economic system in which he says wealthy countries exploit the poor and pollute the Earth in the process.

Nevertheless, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers were welcoming the unprecedented papal address to Congress "with open ears and hearts."

Francis will host an interfaith gathering at Ground Zero in New York and meet with children and immigrant families in Harlem.

Unlike his predecessors, Francis has no meeting planned with the Jewish community, though U.S. church officials said Jewish representatives would participate in the interfaith event. An unannounced encounter with victims of priestly sexual abuse is also a possibility.

While Pope Paul VI in 1965, St. John Paul II in 1979 and Benedict XVI in 2008 celebrated Mass in Yankee Stadium, Francis will celebrate Mass for a smaller crowd in Madison Square Garden. He'll also preside over a vespers service at the newly spruced-up St. Patrick's Cathedral.

On Sept. 26, he will join the church's World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, a big rally for the Catholic Church's traditional teaching on families. He will host a "meeting for religious liberty" on Independence Mall with immigrants and the Hispanic community, the Vatican itinerary said.

U.S. Catholic bishops have for years decried what they say are attacks on religious liberty, particularly over national health care laws that require insurance coverage for contraception.

The bishops' latest rallying cry has come in the wake of the Supreme Court decision declaring that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide.

While the decision does not compel any clergy — Catholic or otherwise — to marry gay couples, there are concerns that the massive network of faith-based charities, hospitals and schools in the U.S., many of which accept some government funding, will be forced to recognize same-sex couples by providing benefits to same-sex spouses or placing adoptive children with gay couples.

While Francis has fiercely upheld church teaching that marriage is between a man and woman, he and the Vatican as a whole tend to consider religious liberty in more global terms, with Christians being slaughtered for their faith across the Middle East and parts of Africa by Islamic militants.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he reminded Americans that religious freedom issues in the United States are not the same as religious freedom issues around the globe," said Christopher Bellitto, an expert on church history at Kean University in New Jersey.

Francis will visit prisoners at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia before celebrating the final Mass of the family meeting on Sept. 27, a celebration expected to draw some 1.5 million people in what is expected to be his largest gathering on U.S. soil.
___

AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll contributed from New York.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-01

[BuaBS]

""Republicans in the U.S. Congress, and even some Republican U.S. presidential candidates, have largely shrugged off Francis' denunciation of the current global economic system in which he says wealthy countries exploit the poor and pollute the Earth in the process.""

Oh man , is he in the absolute wrong place !!

What's next ...a meeting with the FED & tobigtofail banks ?

[Pimay1]

He will address Congress on Sept. 24, and will meet with homeless people later in the day at a local parish, St. Patrick's.

I wonder if he will be sharing any of the Vatican's mulitbillion dollar wealth with the homeless people?

Francis' denunciation of the current global economic system in which he says wealthy countries exploit the poor and pollute the Earth in the process.

Pot and kettle comes to mind.

[Baerboxer]

He will address Congress on Sept. 24, and will meet with homeless people later in the day at a local parish, St. Patrick's.

I wonder if he will be sharing any of the Vatican's mulitbillion dollar wealth with the homeless people?

Francis' denunciation of the current global economic system in which he says wealthy countries exploit the poor and pollute the Earth in the process.

Pot and kettle comes to mind.

Yep. No doubt he'd much prefer the Catholic Church to be even richer at the expense of anyone.

One of the most secretive and repressive organizations ever to evolve from the minds of men.

[BuaBS]

Hope the pope keeps his mouth shut about the vatican's GOLD , or the americans may decide to "liberate " & protect it by invasion.

[Pimay1]

Hope the pope keeps his mouth shut about the vatican's GOLD , or the americans may decide to "liberate " & protect it by invasion.

A little misinformed there BuaBS. The Vatican's gold reserves worth over $20m is kept with the US Federal Reserve.

[BuaBS]

Hope the pope keeps his mouth shut about the vatican's GOLD , or the americans may decide to "liberate " & protect it by invasion.

A little misinformed there BuaBS. The Vatican's gold reserves worth over $20m is kept with the US Federal Reserve.

Well then I must be misinformed . Correction: the vatican hold no gold anymore.

[MaxYakov]

Hope the pope keeps his mouth shut about the vatican's GOLD , or the americans may decide to "liberate " & protect it by invasion.

A little misinformed there BuaBS. The Vatican's gold reserves worth over $20m is kept with the US Federal Reserve.

Well then I must be misinformed . Correction: the vatican hold no gold anymore.

Yes they do and with a firm grip:

[BuaBS]

Hope the pope keeps his mouth shut about the vatican's GOLD , or the americans may decide to "liberate " & protect it by invasion.

A little misinformed there BuaBS. The Vatican's gold reserves worth over $20m is kept with the US Federal Reserve.

Well then I must be misinformed . Correction: the vatican hold no gold anymore.

Yes they do and with a firm grip:

Pope_Francis.jpeg

He'd better hold it real tight , because all the gold is gone at the federal reserve.

[Pimay1]

A little misinformed there BuaBS. The Vatican's gold reserves worth over $20m is kept with the US Federal Reserve.

Well then I must be misinformed . Correction: the vatican hold no gold anymore.

Yes they do and with a firm grip:

Pope_Francis.jpeg

He'd better hold it real tight , because all the gold is gone at the federal reserve.

Not according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Original post removed due to too many posts.

http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/goldvault.html

[willyumiii]

Wana bet he gets a better reception from the homeless, immigrants, prisoners,and the White House than he does the "Religious Right GOP"?

Religion is always right for the Right..unless it interferes with big profits!

This is not a Republican Pope..nope!

Edited July 1, 2015 by willyumiii

[BuaBS]

He'd better hold it real tight , because all the gold is gone at the federal reserve.

Not according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Original post removed due to too many posts.

http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/goldvault.html

On every gold bricks is a claim from 10 countries. (that is if they still want the tungsten fakes)

[Gecko123]

So wonderful to finally have a Pope I can relate to.

[oneday]

Much ado about nothing.

The highest levels of the church are just another form of corrupt government.

Go home pope.