History Of Papal Visits To The United States
Pope Francis is the fourth pope to visit the United States. His apostolic journey to the United States is taking place lace September 22-27, 2015 and he will visit Washington, New York and Philadelphia. Pope Francis' visit will be the tenth time a pope has made an apostolic journey to the United States.
In October 1965, Paul VI became the first pope to visit the United States. His trip included a first time papal visit to the United Nations.
Other pastoral visits from previous popes are:
Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States in 2008. His apostolic visit, April 15-20, took him to Washington and New York.
Pope John Paul II visited the United States seven times:
- 1979 (10/1 – 10/7) Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Des Moines, Iowa.
- 1981 (2/27) Anchorage, Alaska – stopover/several hours
- 1984 (5/2) Fairbanks, Alaska – stopover/several hours
- 1987 (9/10 – 9/19) Miami, Columbia, SC, New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit
- 1993 (8/12 – 8/15) Denver (World Youth Day)
- 1995 (10/4 – 10/8) Newark, NJ, New York (including Brooklyn), Baltimore
- 1999 (1/26 – 1/27) St. Louis
Pope Francis will be the third pope to meet with a U.S. president during a visit to the United States. Other popes who have met with a U.S. president during a U.S. visit are:
Pope Benedict XVI:
April 16, 2008, on the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's 81st birthday, President George W. Bush welcomed Pope Benedict to the White House. This was the second time in history that a pope visited the White House.
Pope John Paul II met with a U.S. president during each of the following visits to the United States:
- 1979 – President Jimmy Carter (The White House, Washington)
- 1984 – President Ronald Reagan (Fairbanks, Alaska: first time a U.S. president and pope met outside of the White House or Vatican)
- 1987 – President Ronald Reagan (Los Angeles)
- 1993 – President Bill Clinton(Denver)
- 1995 – President Bill Clinton (Newark, NJ)
- 1999 – President Bill Clinton (St. Louis)
Pope Francis' visit to the United Nations will be the fourth time a pope addresses the United Nations while visiting the United States:
- Pope Francis: United Nations Headquarters (New York),September 25, 2015
- Benedict XVI: United Nations Headquarters (New York), April 18, 2008
- John Paul II: United Nations Headquarters (New York), October 2, 1979;United Nations Headquarters (New York), October 5, 1995
- Pope Paul VI: United Nations Headquarters (New York), October 4, 1965
