WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Pope Francis arrived at the Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, DC on Tuesday to begin his six-day visit to the United States where the pontiff will address Congress and give a speech at the UN General Assembly.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, joined by US Catholic leaders, greeted the pope upon his arrival with the first official visit to the United States.
On September 22-27, Pope Francis is slated to visit Washington, DC, New York City and Philadelphia.
Earlier in the day, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that the pope would meet with Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the pontiff will give a historic address to a joint meeting of the US Congress.
While in New York, the pope will give a speech at the UN General Assembly, and will conduct a multi-religious service at the September 11 Memorial and Museum.
Ahead of the papal US visit, Washington agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service scrambled to ramp up additional security measures in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania and New York City.
