From being a bouncer in a bar in Buenos Aires, to being a pontiff, Pope Francis has seen it all, except, before a few weeks ago, he had never seen our great nation.  From Thursday, Sept. 24th to Sunday, Sept. 27th, the pope visited The United States for the first time in his papacy, and his life.  He stayed for six days, touring Philadelphia, New York, DC, and Cuba.

The Pope arrived in DC at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 22.  The next day, he had a personal meeting with President Obama and a White House Welcoming ceremony.  At 11:00 am, a Papal Parade was held along the National Mall.  Thousands of people gathered to celebrate and welcome the arrival of the Pope.

Thursday, Sept. 24, began with Pope Francis’ speech to the Senate and House of Representatives, making him the first Pope ever to address a joint session of the United States Congress.  He touched on many important themes that needed to be heard by our nation, such as “ the need for politics to serve the common good, the importance of cooperation and solidarity, the dangers of fundamentalism, the refugee crisis, abolition of the death penalty, the need for courageous acts to avert environmental deterioration, the evils of the arms trade and threats to the family from within and without,“ according to Vatican Radio.

That night, the Pope flew into New York City for an evening prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  At 8:30 the next morning, he attended the United Nations General-Assembly.  Pope Francis spoke to the UN staff in honor of the 70th anniversary.  He addressed the issues of sustainable development and climate change.  Soon after, he attended a multi-religious service at The 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Saturday, Sept. 26, Pope Francis left for the city of Brotherly Love.  While in Philadelphia, he visited Independence Mall, the Festival of Families and a Prayer Vigil with World Meeting of Families.  The day following, he paid a visit to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.  He spoke to the detainees (all of whom were between the ages of 18-21 years old), their families, and the staff.  He told them that, “all of us have something we need to be cleansed of, or purified from.“

After a long week in the United States, the Pope departed for Rome at 8:00 pm on Sunday, Sept. 27.  It is estimated that millions of faithfuls went out of their way to see Pope Francis and heaven knows how many babies he kissed during his six day visit.