WASHINGTON — 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.
Pope Francis prays inside the sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, in El Cobre, Cuba, Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. Francis arrived in the sanctuary shortly after landing in the nearby eastern city of Santiago, his final stop in Cuba before heading to the U.S. on Tuesday. The pontiff brought a bouquet of flowers that he placed before the foot-tall wooden statue of the Virgin prayed for a few minutes. (Tony Gentile/Pool via AP) 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.