Pope Francis to visit USA next year

Pope Francis will visit the United States next year, he said in a speech Monday.

"I wish to confirm according to the wishes of the Lord, that in September of 2015, I will go to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families," the pontiff said while speaking at a conference on family values at the Vatican.

The Catholic News Agency said Pope Francis will also visit New York, although that prospect was not directly mentioned in his speech.

The World Meeting of Families, an event that occurs every three years to promote family values, takes place in Philadelphia Sept. 22-27. The event may draw a crowd of about 1 million people, according to the CNA.

It will be the first time the meeting will be held in the USA and comes during a time of transition for the church.

"We know that today marriage and the family are in crisis," Pope Francis said in his speech at the conference.

"We now live in a culture of the temporary, in which more and more people are simply giving up on marriage as a public commitment.

"This revolution in manners and morals has often flown the flag of freedom, but in fact it has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable."

Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput, who was in Rome for the announcement, said he was "overjoyed" at the pope's impending visit to the USA.

"A hallmark of his papacy has been a keen focus on the many challenges that families face today globally," he said.

"His charisma, presence and voice will electrify the gathering."

The visit will be the pontiff's first to the United States as pope. He will be the fourth reigning pope to visit the country.

In August, Pope Francis told reporters accompanying him on a plane from South Korea that he "would like" to go to Philadelphia, the Catholic News Service said.

The pope said President Obama and Congress had invited him to Washington, D.C., and the secretary-general of the United Nations had invited him to New York.

"Maybe the three cities together, no?" he said.

The CNA said the Pope accepted an invitation to visit Mexico in June, but a date for the visit was not announced.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, head of the Holy See's permanent observer mission to the United Nations, told the Associated Press on Thursday that "if he comes to Philadelphia, he will come to New York."

The World Meeting of Families said detailed plans for the trip have not been finalized, but that the pope is expected to take part in the meeting's closing events.

The official theme for the event is "Love is our mission: the family fully alive."

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