--- title: Pope Francis Will Meet President Barack Obama at the White House description: Pope Francis will meet with President Obama during his trip to the United States later this year, the White House announced Thursday. canonical: https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-26T14:43:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:42.362Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pope Francis Will Visit the White House og:description: The two met last year when Obama visited the Vatican. og:url: https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b4cea1a2494e170/69878564428a9e279ccc7d3f/pope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Pope Francis arrives under heavy rain, for his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on March 25, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Francis Will Visit the White House twitter:description: The two met last year when Obama visited the Vatican. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b4cea1a2494e170/69878564428a9e279ccc7d3f/pope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis Will Visit the White House ## Video: Obama Meets The Pope [Watch (HLS stream): Obama Meets The Pope](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KevlmjpV.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2014-03-27. For just the ninth time, a U.S. president sat down with the pope at the Vatican. While the two were set to discuss global poverty and inequality, calming strained relations between Obama and Catholic leadership also seemed to be a goal._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 26, 2015 2:43 PM UTC  Pope Francis arrives under heavy rain, for his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on March 25, 2015. Pope Francis arrives under heavy rain, for his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on March 25, 2015.Gabriel Bouys—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 26, 2015 2:43 PM UTC Pope Francis will meet with President Obama during his trip to the United States later this year, the White House announced Thursday. The Pope will visit the White House on September 23, according to a statement from White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, where Obama and Pope Francis will speak about “caring for the marginalized and the poor; advancing economic opportunity for all; serving as good stewards of the environment; protecting religious minorities and promoting religious freedom around the world; and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.” The two leaders met last year when Obama visited the Vatican in March 2014\. The upcoming visit in September is part of a larger trip for Pope Francis; during his first visit to the United States as Pope, he will also be [addressing Congress](http://time.com/3697386/pope-francis-congress/) and [speaking at the U.N](http://time.com/3750888/pope-francis-united-nations/). The trip is set to take place from September 22-27. _Read next:_ [_Why Pope Francis Is Obsessed With Mary_](http://time.com/3758189/pope-francis-mary-feast-of-the-annunciation-jesus/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Will Visit the White House","datePublished":"2015-03-26T14:43:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:42.362Z","description":"Will discuss immigration with President Obama, among other things","url":"https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/","keywords":["White House","Pope Francis"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b4cea1a2494e170/69878564428a9e279ccc7d3f/pope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b4cea1a2494e170/69878564428a9e279ccc7d3f/pope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis arrives under heavy rain, for his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on March 25, 2015.","caption":"Pope Francis arrives under heavy rain, for his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on March 25, 2015.","creditText":"Gabriel Bouys—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3759771/pope-francis-white-house/","name":"Pope Francis Will Visit the White House"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Obama Meets The Pope","description":"For just the ninth time, a U.S. president sat down with the pope at the Vatican. 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