HOW POPE FRANCIS BRINGS TOUCH LOVE TO AMERICA (1396 hits)
America may be in for some tough love from the Pope.
After a lifetime of watching the world's most affluent and powerful nation from afar, Pope Francis will walk on U.S. soil for the first time, at the age of 78, when he arrives in Washington from Cuba on Tuesday afternoon.
He's assured of a warm welcome from millions of U.S. Catholics, and his poll numbers -- which would be the envy of any politician -- suggest that curious adherents of other faiths and even the nondevout are also eagerly awaiting his visit.
Programming Note
Don't miss live coverage of Pope Francis' trip to the U.S. on CNN and CNNgo, and see the people and places that shaped Pope Francis in a CNN special report, "The People's Pope," tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
But the first Latin American pope's blessings on America could also contain uncomfortable challenges as he addresses a country that encapsulates many of the ills he has denounced as the head of one of the world's largest religions. Though there are aspects of American life that Francis embraces, he has quickly become known for blunt critiques of contemporary society and global economics, and his criticism -- from capitalism to climate change to technology -- spans the political spectrum.
"Pope Francis is the ultimate Washington outsider. His priorities are not Washington's priorities," said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. "We think we are the center of the world. We are not the center of Pope Francis' world. He is frankly more comfortable in the slums of Argentina than in the corridors of power."
