Pope Francis Greets American Catholics With Rare English Message
Days before his three-city tour of the United States, Pope Francis shared a rare English-language greeting with the City of Brotherly Love:
“I look forward to greeting the pilgrims and the people of Philadelphia when I come for the World Meeting of Families,” Francis said in a video shared Sunday by Archbishop James Chaput of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. “I will be there because you will be there! See you in Philadelphia!”
Francis is known to be fluent in his native Spanish and Italian, and can also speak some English, French, German, Latin and Portuguese. He publicly spoke English for the first time in his papacy in October 2013.
The pope is expected to deliver speechesmostly in Spanish when he makes his first visit to the U.S. on Tuesday. The six-day tour includes stops in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.
Francis isscheduled to visit Philadelphia onSept. 26-27to close out the World Meeting of Families, a triennial Catholic conference focused on strengthening family bonds.
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