Skip to main content
Potential Pope visit ‘a blessing’ for New Yorkers
Catholic New Yorkers expressed high hopes after Pope Francis said Monday he might visit New York City, which would mark the first papal visit since 2008. A lot of New Yorkers would come out of their homes and offices even to catch a glimpse of him,” said Mario Bruschi, a volunteer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.
“All the popes in recent memory have been popular, but Pope Francis speaks to us in a simple voice,” said Mr. Bruschi.The 77-year-old pontiff remarked during a flight from South Korea to Italy that he may plan a U.S. trip in 2015.
“Next year I would like to go to Philadelphia, for the [World Meeting of Families],” he said.“Then I have been invited by the president of the United States to the American Congress. And also the Secretary-General of the United Nations has invited me to the Secretariat of the U.N. in New York. So maybe the three cities together.”
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, Joseph Zwilling, said he hadn’t heard official word about such a visit, but that the trip would “be a blessing” for the city. The trip would draw major publicity and support from New York Catholic groups for a pontiff who has been lauded by some New Yorkers for his focus on the poor and for saying he wouldn’t judge gay priests.
