Sovereign Head of Vatican City State (Pope) to visit the USA April 15-20, 2008

"Supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power is vested in the pope,..."
Political Handbook of the World: 1993, "Vatican City State," p. 916, edited by Arthur S. Banks, 1993

"... the Vatican City State, the smallest independent [political] entity in the world,..." ibid., p. 915

"Political Status: Independent sovereign state, under papal temporal [political] government; international status governed by the Lateran Treaty with Italy [Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini] of February 11, 1929." ibid., p. 915

Monetary Unit: The Vatican has the right to issue papal coinage. ibid., p. 915

The sovereign political Vatican City State has a Secretary of State. ibid., p. 915

The pope "serves concurrently as bishop of Rome, supreme pontiff of the Universal Church [sic], primate of Italy, archbishop and metropolitan of the Province of Rome, and sovereign of the Vatican City State." ibid., p. 915

Americans, please take note, the combination of civil governmental and religious offices of the Pope is the antithesis of the American principle of the separation of civil and ecclesiastical authority, jurisdiction, and power. In this one political and religious figure, who is vested as "pope" with the simultaneous, dual titles of both Sovereign Head of State and Supreme Ecclesiastical leader of the Roman Catholic Church [sic].

So when Pope Bendict XVI comes to visit George W. Bush in the White House on April 16, 2008, this is both a meeting of two international political heads of state, and, at the same time, a meeting between the US President and the Religious Leader of the NWO's one-world (false) religion of Roman Catholicism. The Vatican was not formally recognized diplomatically by the United States until 1984 under "conservative" President Ronald Reagan.


"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,..." Hosea 4:6

"O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." Isaiah 3:12

"... I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18
Yeshua Messiah

Steve Lefemine, pro-life missionary
dir., Columbia Christians for Life
PO Box 50358, Columbia, SC
http://www.christianlifeandliberty.net/
March 18, 2008

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Sovereign Head of Vatican City State (Pope) to visit the USA April 15-20, 2008

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POPE'S SCHEDULE

April 15: Arrives in Washington, D.C.

April 16: On the pope's 81st birthday, he'll get an official welcome with President Bush at the White House in the morning. And, he'll meet with U.S. bishops at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

April 17: He'll have a mass at Nationals Stadium and meet with Catholic University of America presidents and diocesan heads of education from around the USA. Inter-religious event at the John Paul II Cultural Center.

April 18: On his third anniversary of his election as pope, he'll arrive in New York, address the United Nations, and speak at ecumenical event at a local parish.

April 19: Mass with priests, deacons, and members of religious orders at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Meeting with seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers.

April 20: Visit to Ground Zero. Mass at Yankee Stadium.

Source: USA TODAY

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

BALTIMORE ­ Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the USA as pope next year, going to the 9/11 Ground Zero site, addressing the United Nations and saying Masses at baseball stadiums in Washington and New York.

Nearly 300 bishops stood to applaud after the pope's U.S. representative, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi, announced the plans Monday at the opening session of the three-day fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The visit, set for April 15-20, will coincide with Benedict's 81st birthday and the third anniversary of his papal election. As a cardinal, he visited the USA twice.

The schedule includes an official greeting at the White House, ecumenical gatherings and meetings with U.S. bishops, priests and other religious leaders. "He will not travel much, but he will address all the people of the United States and the world Catholic Church," Sambi said.

The pope's predecessor, John Paul II, was 59 on his first U.S. visit and packed stadiums like a rock star. Benedict's schedule, two events a day in two cities, is designed "to conserve his energy," said Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., head of the bishops group.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: House Vatican Catholic Benedict Pope St. Peter's XVI Archbishop April 15 Ground Zero Bishop William Skylstad

The pope will land amid a hotly contested U.S. presidential election. None of the five Catholic candidates in the race adheres to the church's teachings on life issues such as abortion.

Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has said he would not offer communion to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani because of his stance on abortion rights.

The other Catholic candidates are Democrats Joseph Biden, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson.

Skylstad said there will be no showdown at the stadiums over communion. "I don't think the pope has ever refused communion to anyone who has come to him," he said.

Politics is an inescapable focus at the bishops' meeting. On the agenda:

•A statement, the bishops' fifth, opposing the war in Iraq and emphasizing the need for a prompt and ethical exit. "The statement resists the temptation of saying, 'We told you so,' " and moves on to reargue the need to address moral obligations to the Iraqi people and to U.S. veterans, said Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, head of the bishops' Committee on International Policy.

•Election today of a new president of the group, likely to be Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, for a three-year term.

•A statement guiding Catholics on church teachings "without telling people how to vote," said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn. The draft text hammers in plain language the "intrinsic evil" of abortion, euthanasia and sex outside marriage, and expresses concern about poverty, social justice and peace.

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Pope Benedict to visit U.S.

• Story Highlights
• Pontiff to visit ground zero in New York
• Visits to United Nations, White House also planned
• Trip will be Benedict's first to U.S. since succeeding John Paul II
• Next Article in U.S. »

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the United States as pontiff next year, and plans to visit the White House, ground zero and speak at the United Nations, the Vatican's ambassador said Monday.

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the United States from April 15 to 20.

Benedict will travel to Washington and New York from April 15 to 20, speak at the United Nations on April 18 and visit ground zero on the final day of his trip, Archbishop Pietro Sambi said.

The pope will visit the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York to show "solidarity with those who have died, with their families and with all those who wish an end of violence and in the search of peace," Sambi said.

The visit will take place on the third anniversary of Benedict's election to succeed Pope John Paul II, who died in April 2005.

An official welcome reception for Benedict will be held at the White House on April 16, Sambi said. The pontiff will celebrate two public Masses, first at the new National Stadium in Washington on April 17, and again at Yankee Stadium on April 20.

He will also hold meetings with priests, Catholic university presidents, diocesan educators and young people.

"The pope will not travel much, but he will address himself to the people of the United States and the whole Catholic Church," Sambi said.

All About Pope Benedict XVI • The Roman Catholic Church

Link to the above article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/12/pope.us.ap/index.html

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Papal visit to US set

New York, Sep. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI ( bio - news) will visit the US in April 2008, for a major address at UN headquarters in New York.

Although rumors about a papal visit have circulated in the US media for the past week, the Vatican has not yet confirmed the trip. However informed sources have told CWN that plans are quickly taking shape for a spring trip to eastern US.

In April of this year the Pope accepted an invitation from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to address the international body. No date has been set for the Pope's appearance there, but the director of the Vatican press office, Father Federico Lombardi, has indicated that the trip would probably take place in 2008. Numerous published reports have now indicated that the Pope will speak to the UN around the middle of next April.

Specific plans for the papal visit are not yet fixed, informed sources stress. However, organizers are considering visits to Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston, as well as New York.

In April, Catholic Americans will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the establishment of dioceses in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia: three of the cities on the list of the Pope's possible stops. (A fourth new American diocese was created in April 1807 in Bardstown, Kentucky: what is now the Archdiocese of Louisville.) Baltimore, another possible stop on the Pope's tour, was raised to the level of a metropolitan archdiocese on the same date in 1808.

In Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley has asked the Pope to visit in an effort to heal the wounds of the sex-abuse scandal that reached a crescendo there 5 years ago. The Holy Father has reportedly indicated a desire to visit the Catholic University of America, located in Washington. There are also reports that he would plan a meeting there with President George W. Bush.

Pope Benedict is also reportedly weighing another trip to North America in June 2008, to participate in the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec. Vatican organizers chose not to try to combine the Pope's appearances into a single trip, sources say, because the Pontiff preferred not to be in the US at the height of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Link to the above article: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=53620

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American Papist

Monday, September 17, 2007


Pa·pist: n. A Catholic who is a strong advocate of the papacy.


Pope Benedict to visit Eastern U.S. cities in April '08?



A notable upswing in cardinal-and-archbishop sightings during the last couple weeks here in DC set off rumors that something big was brewing. New to the scene myself, I shrugged my shoulders and figured that this state of affairs was average for the Nation's capital.

Disconnected as it may have been, Rocco reports that plans for a Papal visit to the Eastern seaboard were disseminated and discussed by the heirarchy during that time frame. (Quelle surprise, yes?) The highlights of Rocco's report:

The tentative dates of the visit would be April 15th-20th (Tuesday-to-Sunday).

Appearances in New York: a speech before the United Nations, Mass at Central Park, address and prayers at St. Patrick's Cathedral, a moment of reflection at Ground Zero.

Appearances in Boston: Sunday Mass on Boston Common and a meeting with the bishops of New England.

Appearances in Washington DC: Pope Benedict is reportedly eager to see the campus of CUA, he would also meet with President Bush, and probably celebrate Mass at the National Mall.

A visit to Baltimore might be added. And, parting with tradition, the Pontiff will be visiting in an election year, right near the time when the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates should have just emerged.
(Cue the fireworks.)

... well now, it seems I have to go block out a certain week in April on my calendar...

More as I find it.

Update: On Friday, CNS speculated: "Vatican officials say the pope also expects to visit the United Nations and New York in 2008, and April now looks like a likely time frame. He could easily add one or two other eastern U.S. cities, such as Philadelphia or Boston, to that itinerary."

Update 2: In fairness to my readers, I should note that this report is unsubstantiated at this point and has not been confirmed by any official source. Expect, at the very least, many of the venues and planned activities mentioned in this post to change. From what I'm hearing, the projected dates and major cities look fairly certain, but anything beyond that hasn't passed into anything resembling a consensus.

Update 3: CNA reports on the rumors here (and it appears to simply relate Rocco's details). Obviously, in a situation like this the various involved dioceses and planning committees don't want to jump the gun and release details that have not yet been confirmed. Cities and other destinations at one time on the list would feel slighted if taken off during a later stage of planning, etc. Plus, there's a massive amount of logistics collaboration that has to go on with state and local officials (security, etc). Having the details of a visit available to the public won't help those proceedings move smoothly along in the least. So, everyone, stay patient and tuned. There's plenty of time to book tickets.

Link to the above article from "American Papist" ---
http://www.americanpapist.com/2007/09/pope-benedict-to-visit-eastern-us.html

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Pope plans limited U.S. visit

Washington and N.Y. on April itinerary;
Baltimore bypassed



Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., left, discusses the pope's U.S. visit alongside Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., center, and Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Fla., at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. (Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / November 12, 2007)

By Liz F. Kay Baltimore Sun reporter / November 13, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI unveiled yesterday an itinerary for his first trip to the United States that will take him to the White House, the United Nations and Ground Zero in April, giving many Americans an up-close glimpse of the pope.

Pope Benedict, who became pontiff in 2005, has not traveled as much as his globe-trotting predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who drew tens of thousands of the faithful at stops around the world. The six-day trip is limited to Washington and New York, and does not include a Baltimore stop that had been sought by Cardinal William H. Keeler, the city's former archbishop.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio, or the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, announced the pope's itinerary during the opening address of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fall meeting at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.


Related links


Sun coverage: Religion in the news
Many details are still to be determined for the trip, which the conference's president, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., characterized as a "pastoral visit."

Pope Benedict is scheduled to begin his "apostolic journey" in Washington on April 15. He will make an official state visit to the White House on April 16, his 81st birthday, and will celebrate Mass with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The next day, he will celebrate a public Mass for 45,000 at the Washington Nationals' new stadium.

He also will meet April 17 with interreligious leaders at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center and with Catholic university presidents and diocesan educators at the Catholic University of America before continuing on to New York.

On April 18, the pontiff will address the United Nations and meet with ecumenical leaders. The next day, he will celebrate Mass with priests and members of religious orders at St. Patrick's Cathedral and attend a youth event at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.

He will end his trip April 20 with a visit to Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site and a public Mass at Yankee Stadium.

Pope Benedict's arrival is scheduled in the midst of the U.S. presidential election campaign.

This week, the bishops are considering drafts of "Faithful Citizenship," a document listing principles of "formation of conscience" for Roman Catholic voters. Yesterday, the bishops agreed on a statement favoring "responsible transition" in Iraq - although they stopped short of stating which presidential candidates most closely support their position.

"Perhaps the Holy Father, coming here at this time, in some of his presentations will be able to speak to the reality in which we are," Skylstad said.

"I think his visit will be a blessing without having to get into any of the political particulars," Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington said in a news conference.

Visiting Washington gives the pope the chance to speak to the entire Catholic community in this country, Wuerl said afterward.

The pope's visit "will be an opportunity to renew our whole faith community, to renew the church," Wuerl said. "So many good things have been happening, and the Holy Father will be a catalyst simply to lift those up and to say we need to continue doing the very best we can do in the service to the Gospel."

After Pope Benedict accepted an invitation in April from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to visit the United Nations next year, a number of U.S. clerics requested papal visits, including Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston, which like New York celebrates its bicentennial next year.

"There have been some strong attempts on the parts of other bishops to have him go elsewhere," Skylstad said.

Keeler had invited Pope Benedict to Baltimore several times since he became pontiff and reissued the request in the spring.

Keeler had hoped the pope would make time to visit the newly restored Basilica of the Assumption, the nation's first cathedral, as well as the new Our Daily Bread Employment Center.

But Pope Benedict has made fewer trips than Pope John Paul, who was much younger when he began his tenure as pontiff. So far, Pope Benedict has been to Brazil, Spain, Germany, Poland and Turkey on official visits.

"He will be celebrating, I think his second day here, his 81st birthday," Skylstad said. "The schedule is somewhat limited each day to conserve his energy."

The nation's capital and New York were logical locations for the pope to speak to the world and to the American people, said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center. "New York and Washington are bully pulpits."

Every time Pope John Paul visited the United States, he met with the president, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of communications for the bishops' conference. Though Pope John Paul did not stop in Washington when he visited Baltimore in 1995, he met with President Bill Clinton in Newark, N.J.

Reese is curious what topics Pope Benedict will address at both the Catholic University of America, where he will meet with leaders of Catholic colleges and universities as well as diocesan heads of education, and at the World Trade Center site.

Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, said that a limited number of tickets for the Mass at the Nationals stadium will be provided to the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Arlington, Va., and that the archdioceses would distribute them.

liz.kay@baltsun.com

The link to the above article: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.pope13nov13,0,1416538.story

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Rome's Pope to meet Muslims; furthers NWO goal of one-world (false) Religion
The anti-Christian New World Order (NWO) has three main planks:
1) one-world civil ('political') Government
2) one-world Money
3) one-world (false) Religion
http://lefemineforlife.blogspot.com/2008/03/romes-pope-to-meet-muslims-furthers-nwo.html