Pope Francis t-shirts, bobbleheads, happy hour specials … the head of the Catholic Church is visiting the United States this week, and Washington, New York, and Philadelphia have geared up in anticipation.
A Pope Francis bobblehead on display at the Grand Slam NY gift store on Times Square. (Photo: Matthew McDermott/Polaris/Newscom)
T-shirts as proof the pope is coming to DC. pic.twitter.com/7dl0DhvaaR
— Todd C. Frankel (@tcfrankel) September 17, 2015
The Pope has come early to Isgro’s. Get your Pope cookies and cupcakes today! pic.twitter.com/mjOhcaDWw1
— Isgro Pastries (@isgropastries) September 8, 2015
Pope T-shirts! Get yer Pope T-shirts! Pauline Muchina at Conn. & L NW said she’s sold 20+. $8 and $6. pic.twitter.com/DPtaHG6nqq
— JohnKelly (@JohnKelly) September 17, 2015
The Pope’s gonna be so stoked when he orders pizza here in Philly and sees the box. ?? pic.twitter.com/09tSDDrXib
— Melissa (@melhoudart) September 15, 2015
Turn up with the Pope Up Beer Garden @thebishopcollar Opening September 24th @Pontifex#PopeInPhillypic.twitter.com/ktRWCzH0wK
— Penn Beer (@PennBeer) September 10, 2015
Roughly 50,000 visitors are expected to descend on Washington. In Philadelphia, tickets for the Pope’s Independence Hall event were claimed in two minutes. New York City is preparing for total gridlock as 170 world leaders gather to meet him for the annual U.N. conference, as another hundreds of thousands of people try to catch a glimpse.
An unfinished billboard near Madison Square Garden is adorned with the image of Pope Francis prior to his visit to New York, seen on Monday, August 31, 2015. (Photo: Richard B. Levine/Newscom)
With all of the buzz and excitement (and bobbleheads), you’d think this was the first time a Pope visited the United States. Contrary, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope Francis’ visit will be the tenth time a pope has made an apostolic journey to America.
Here’s a look back at past papal visits.
October 1965
First Papal visit to the United States: Pope Paul VI
Paul VI was in New York to address the United Nations and met President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Their 46-minute talk included discussions of peace, civil rights, education, and poverty. (Photo: Schulmann-Sach/Newscom)
October 1979
First Papal visit to the White House: Pope John Paul II
President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter with Pope John Paul II at the White House on October 6, 1979. (Photo: Carter Archives/Newscom)
Pope John Paul II traveled to the United States six more times during his tenure and was greeted by the sitting president each visit.
From Sept. 10 – 19, 1987, John Paul II visited Miami, Columbia, S.C., New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit. Here he is seen in Miami with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. He had also seen Reagan during his 1984 trip to the U.S. (Photo: Arthur Grace/ZUMAPRESS.com/Newscom)
President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II in Denver, Colo. for World Youth Day on August 11, 1993. (Photo: Dennis Brack/Newscom)
During his October visit in 1995, John Paul II visited Newark, N.J., New York (including Brooklyn), and Baltimore. The Clintons greeted him in Newark. In this 1993 photo of Clinton and Pope John Paul II, the pair admires the crowd at Denver’s Stapleton International Airport. (Photo: Robert McNeely/National Archives)
John Paul II’s 1998 visit was barely two days long. He visited St. Louis and President Clinton met him there. Here they greet the citizens of Colorado during the pope’s 1993 visit. (Photo: Robert McNeely/National Archives)
April 2008
The third pope to visit the United States: Pope Benedict XVI
President George W. Bush escorts Pope Benedict XVI at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., April 15, 2008, at the start of his weeklong trip to the United States.
Benedict met with the president at the White House, addressed the presidents of Roman Catholic Colleges and Universities, and held mass at the Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., and Yankee Stadium in New York City. (Photo: John Sonderman/CC BY-NC 2.0)