--- description: Pope Francis will trade in his traditional Vatican chair set-up for a very American alternative — The Gettysburg Lectern. title: Pope Francis Will Speak From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Lectern image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350441ebf0185052/69885e623c1639059d4592d6/popefrancis-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pope Francis Will Speak From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Lectern  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 7:15 PM CUT  Pope Francis arrives for an audience with members of the Eucharistic Youth Movement in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican City on Aug. 7 2015. Pope Francis arrives for an audience with members of the Eucharistic Youth Movement in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican City on Aug. 7 2015.Ettore Ferrari—EPA  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 7:15 PM CUT Pope Francis will trade in his traditional Vatican chair set-up for a very American alternative—The Gettysburg Lectern—when he speaks in [Philadelphia this September.](http://www.worldmeeting2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/PRESS-RELEASE-WMOF-ALF-Gettysburg-Lectern-FINAL-8-7-15-@-1145am.pdf "undefined") The Pope will speak from the lectern where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863, the World Meeting of Families announced in a Friday press release. The Abraham Lincoln Foundation will provide the historical artifact for when Pope Francis delivers his speech in front of Independence Hall on Sept. 26. The Pope will speak in Philadelphia toward the end of a [6-day trip to the U.S.](http://time.com/3941278/pope-francis-us-trip-schedule/ "undefined") that will begin with President Obama at the White House and include an address to the U.N. General Assembly. > [](https://twitter.com/phillydotcom/status/629715381863591940) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Will Speak From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Lectern","datePublished":"2015-08-07T19:15:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:00:45.269Z","description":"The Pope will use the lectern during his trip to the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/","keywords":["faith","Pope Francis topic","Abraham Lincoln"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350441ebf0185052/69885e623c1639059d4592d6/popefrancis-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350441ebf0185052/69885e623c1639059d4592d6/popefrancis-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis arrives for an audience with members of the Eucharistic Youth Movement in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican City on Aug. 7 2015.","caption":"Pope Francis arrives for an audience with members of the Eucharistic Youth Movement in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican City on Aug. 7 2015.","creditText":"Ettore Ferrari—EPA","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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/","name":"Pope Francis Will Speak From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Lectern"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy","description":"From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aYRnrfUV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-11T12:42:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/","duration":"PT3M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3989295/pope-francis-lincoln-gettysurg-address/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```