--- title: Pope Francis to Address Congress in September description: Pope Francis will become the first Pope in history to address Congress on September 24, 2015. canonical: https://time.com/3697386/pope-francis-congress/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-05T16:58:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:24.260Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pope Francis to Address U.S. Congress og:description: He'll be the first pope ever to do so og:url: https://time.com/3697386/pope-francis-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83df4f9d6453bda/69877dddf887dcd8cde89f68/pope-congress-us1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4194 og:image:height: 2359 og:image:alt: VATICAN-US-OBAMA-POPE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Francis to Address U.S. Congress twitter:description: He'll be the first pope ever to do so twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83df4f9d6453bda/69877dddf887dcd8cde89f68/pope-congress-us1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis to Address U.S. Congress > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 5, 2015 4:58 PM UTC  Pope Francis and President Barack Obama shake hands during a private audience on March 27, 2014 at the Vatican. Pope Francis and President Barack Obama shake hands during a private audience on March 27, 2014 at the Vatican.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 5, 2015 4:58 PM UTC Pope Francis will become the first leader of the Catholic church to address the United States Congress. Francis will stop off in the Capitol on Sept. 24 during his week-long tour of the U.S., and speak to a joint session of Congress. House Speaker John Boehner announced the news in a Thursday morning tweet: > [](https://twitter.com/SpeakerBoehner/status/563374779521318912) Along with his visit to the Capitol, Pope Francis will be making stops at the White House, the U.N. General Assembly and Ground Zero in New York City, [among other destinations](http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/exclusive-details-of-the-proposal-for-pope-francis-us-visit-revealed-13383/). 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