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| Pope Francis talks with President Barack Obama after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. The Pope is spending three days in Washington before heading to New York and Philadelphia. This is the Pope's first visit to the United States. First lady Michelle Obama is at right. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Pope Francis arrived Tuesday on the first visit of his life to
the United States, bringing his humble manner and his "church of the
poor" to a rich and powerful nation polarized over economic inequality,
immigration and equal justice.
According a
rare honor to the pontiff, President Barack Obama and his wife and
daughters met Francis at the bottom of the stairs on the red-carpeted
tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland after the pope's chartered
plane touched down from Cuba. Presidents usually make important visitors
come to them at the White House.
Emerging
from the plane to boisterous cheers from a crowd of hundreds, the
smiling 78-year-old pontiff removed his skullcap in the windy weather
and made his way down the steps in his white robes.
He
was welcomed by a military honor guard, chanting schoolchildren,
politicians, and Roman Catholic clerics in black robes and vivid sashes
of scarlet and purple. Joe Biden, the nation's first Catholic vice
president, and his wife were among those who greeted him.
Eschewing
a limousine, the pope climbed into the back of a modest little Fiat
family car and promptly rolled down the windows, enabling the cheering,
whooping crowds to see him as his motorcade took him to the Vatican
diplomatic mission in Washington, where he will stay while in the
nation's capital. The choice of car was in keeping with his simple
habits and his stand against consumerism.
During
his six-day, three-city visit to the U.S., the pope will meet with the
president on Wednesday, address Congress on Thursday, speak at the
United Nations in New York on Friday and take part in a
Vatican-sponsored conference on the family in Philadelphia over the
weekend.
The Argentine known as the "slum
pope" for ministering to the downtrodden in his native Buenos Aires is
expected to urge America to take better care of the environment and the
poor and return to its founding ideals of religious liberty and open
arms toward immigrants.
During the flight,
Francis defended himself against conservative criticism of his economic
views. He told reporters on the plane that some explanations of his
writings may have given the impression he is "a little bit more
left-leaning."
But he said such explanations
are wrong and added: "I am certain that I have never said anything
beyond what is in the social doctrine of the church." Joking about
doubts in some quarters over whether he is truly Catholic, he said, "If I
have to recite the Creed, I'm ready."
He is the fourth pope ever to visit the United States.
Francis'
enormous popularity, propensity for wading into crowds and insistence
on using an open-sided Jeep rather than a bulletproof popemobile have
complicated things for U.S. law enforcement, which has mounted one of
the biggest security operations in American history to keep him safe.
The
measures are unprecedented for a papal trip and could make it nearly
impossible for many ordinary Americans to get anywhere close to Francis.
For anyone hoping to get across town when the pope is around, good
luck.
For all the attention likely to be paid
to Francis' speeches, including the first address from a pope to
Congress, his more personal gestures - visiting with immigrants,
prisoners and the homeless - could yield some of the most memorable
images of the trip.
"What the pope does in the
United States will be more important than what he says," said Mat
Schmalz, a religious studies professor at Holy Cross college in
Worcester, Massachusetts. "There are a lot of things he will say about
capitalism and about wealth inequality, but many Americans and
politicians have already made up their minds on these issues. What I
would look for is a particular gesture, an unscripted act, that will
move people."
In Cuba, Francis basked in the
adulation of Cubans grateful to him for brokering the re-establishment
of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the communist island.
On
the plane, though, he told reporters he will not use his speech to
Congress to call specifically for the U.S. to lift the Cold War-era
trade embargo against Cuba.
He arrives at a
moment of bitter infighting across the country over gay rights,
immigration, abortion and race relations - issues that are always
simmering in the U.S. but have boiled over in the heat of a presidential
campaign.
Capitol Hill is consumed by
disputes over abortion and federal funding for Planned Parenthood after
hidden-camera videos showed its officials talking about the
organization's practice of sending tissue from aborted fetuses to
medical researchers. While Francis has staunchly upheld church teaching
against abortion, he has recently allowed ordinary priests, and not just
bishops, to absolve women of the sin.
Francis'
visit comes three months after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay
marriage, putting U.S. bishops on the defensive and sharply dividing
Americans over how much they should accommodate religious objectors. The
pope has strongly upheld church teaching against same-sex marriage but
adopted a welcoming tone toward gays themselves, saying, "Who am I to
judge?" when asked about a supposedly gay priest.
Americans
are also wrestling anew with issues of racism. A series of deaths in
recent years of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement has
intensified debate over the American criminal justice system.
Francis
will see that system up close when he meets with inmates at a
Pennsylvania prison.
U.S. bishops, meanwhile,
expect Francis will issue a strong call for immigration reform, a
subject that has heated up with hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric from
some of the Republican presidential candidates, especially Donald Trump.
Francis,
the first Latin American pope, will be sending a powerful message on
that front by delivering the vast majority of his speeches in his native
Spanish.
"Our presidential candidates have
been using immigrants as a wedge issue," Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski
said. "It's our hope that the visit of Pope Francis will change this
narrative."
Francis' most eagerly watched
speech will be his address to Congress. Republicans and many
conservative Catholics have bristled at his indictment of the excesses
of capitalism that he says impoverish people and risk turning the Earth
into an "immense pile of filth." Many conservatives have likewise
rejected his call for urgent action against global warming.
Nevertheless,
Francis enjoys popularity ratings in the U.S. that would be the envy of
any world leader. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last week
found 63 percent of Catholics have a favorable view of him, and nearly 8
in 10 approve the direction he is taking the church.
Just how far Francis presses his agenda in Washington is the big question.
Paul
Vallely, author of "Pope Francis, The Struggle for the Soul of
Catholicism," predicted both "warmth" and "some finger-wagging" from the
pope.
"He won't necessarily confront people head-on," Vallely said, "but he'll change the priorities."
