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Pope Francis in Washington DC - live coverage | Pope Francis in Washington DC - live coverage |
(35 minutes later) | |
1.23pm BST13:23 | |
Seeing Bernie Sanders may put you in mind of this video from the pope’s flight from Cuba to the US yesterday, which shows the pontiff telling reporters that impressions of him being “a bit of a leftie” are wrong. | |
He said his true doctrine, on issues ranging from the environment to social justice, is that of the church. ‘If it is necessary for me to recite the Creed, I am willing to do it,’ he joked. | |
1.12pm BST13:12 | |
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is talking to CNN’s Chris Cuomo on the south lawn of the White House. | |
He speaks admirably about Pope Francis’ outspoken positions on climate change. “He doesnt have to do this but he is saying it - fossil fuel is changing our envirnoment and we must address it,” Sanders says. “That’s what I admire about this pope.” | |
Cuomo asks Sanders about Republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson’s comment a couple of days ago that he would not support a Muslim for president. | |
“How long did it take to elect a Catholic?” Sanders asks. “1960. And people said he’d be working for the pope. How long did it take to elect an African-American?” He called Carson’s comments “very wrong”. | |
1.01pm BST13:01 | |
Pope Francis will probably meet with some victims of clerical sex abuse while he is in the US, reports Rome correspondent Stephanie Kirchgaessner. But chances are that he probably won’t meet with one named John Wojnowski, a 72-year-old Polish immigrant and who has stood in protest against the church’s legacy of protecting pedophiles for more than 17 years. | |
For anyone who has lived in Washington or driven up Massachusetts Avenue, Wojnowsk is a familiar figure - he’s the anonymous but always present man who stands - everyday - outside the Apostolic Nunciature holding a sign that accuses the Vatican of hiding pedophiles. Another sign calls Catholics ‘cowards.’ Wojnowski is probably considered too controversial to meet with Francis. The protester will likely have been shuttled far away from the sidewalk he usually paces for the pope’s visit. | |
But that, says reporter Matt Bai, who movingly tells Wojnowski’s story, is a ‘travesty,because it means that Francis will not see his embassy in the same way that many Washingtonians have glimpsed it through the years. He will not understand the lonely sacrifice of one broken, belittled man, or the depth of despair that exists in some quarters of the American church.’ | |
One day in 1997, Wojnowski was reading a case about a victim of clerical sex abuse when he says he suddenly recalled long buried memories of the abuse he suffered when he was 15-years-old, allegedly at the hands of a priest in Milan. ‘The feeling was so terrible. So final. I ruined my life,’ he told Bai. Asked what he wanted, the protester said he had settled on a sum that he believed would do his justice for his suffering: $240,000. | |
He also wants the church to take out a full-page ad in the Washington Post apologizing to him. Bai writes: ‘You see, the way Wojnowski talks about it, he has no more control over whether he shows up on this sidewalk tomorrow than you or I do over paying taxes or sending our kids to school. The church has stolen 17 years of an old man’s life, he says, one monotonous day after another, by refusing to make him whole.” | |
You can read the whole story here. | |
12.48pm BST12:48 | 12.48pm BST12:48 |
Security for the pope’s visit is “unprecedented,” CNN is reporting. As dawn broke, journalists and others who have been cleared to be in the White House for the meeting were queuing at several security checkpoints to get in. | Security for the pope’s visit is “unprecedented,” CNN is reporting. As dawn broke, journalists and others who have been cleared to be in the White House for the meeting were queuing at several security checkpoints to get in. |
Past one checkpoint. About to go through security at the White House. #PopeInDC pic.twitter.com/u50Pfr0csN | Past one checkpoint. About to go through security at the White House. #PopeInDC pic.twitter.com/u50Pfr0csN |
#PopeInDC Media waiting to get through the 2nd check point entry to the White House grounds. http://t.co/zwv6nMPGoA pic.twitter.com/ebRng4QAlZ | #PopeInDC Media waiting to get through the 2nd check point entry to the White House grounds. http://t.co/zwv6nMPGoA pic.twitter.com/ebRng4QAlZ |
We're in! The @WhiteHouse lawn is where #PopeFrancis will be giving his first speech today. #PopeInDC #PopeinUS pic.twitter.com/64VnsGQFae | We're in! The @WhiteHouse lawn is where #PopeFrancis will be giving his first speech today. #PopeInDC #PopeinUS pic.twitter.com/64VnsGQFae |
12.34pm BST12:34 | 12.34pm BST12:34 |
One topic that might be controversial today is the canonisation of 18th century Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra, whom the pontiff is due to make a saint during this trip. | One topic that might be controversial today is the canonisation of 18th century Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra, whom the pontiff is due to make a saint during this trip. |
Native American groups in California have been protesting his elevation to sainthood, saying that instead of being honored, Serra should be condemned for the brutal treatment of the Native American population that took place under his leadership. | Native American groups in California have been protesting his elevation to sainthood, saying that instead of being honored, Serra should be condemned for the brutal treatment of the Native American population that took place under his leadership. |
Tens of thousands of Native Americans across Alta California, as the region was then known, were absorbed into Catholic missions – places said by one particularly rapturous myth-maker in the 19th century to be filled with “song, laughter, good food, beautiful languor, and mystical adoration of the Christ”, writes Andrew Gumbel. | Tens of thousands of Native Americans across Alta California, as the region was then known, were absorbed into Catholic missions – places said by one particularly rapturous myth-maker in the 19th century to be filled with “song, laughter, good food, beautiful languor, and mystical adoration of the Christ”, writes Andrew Gumbel. |
What this rosy-eyed view omits is that these natives were brutalized – beaten, pressed into forced labour and infected with diseases to which they had no resistance – and the attempt to integrate them into the empire was a miserable failure. | What this rosy-eyed view omits is that these natives were brutalized – beaten, pressed into forced labour and infected with diseases to which they had no resistance – and the attempt to integrate them into the empire was a miserable failure. |
“Indians brought into the missions were not allowed to leave, and if they tried they were shackled and severely beaten,” writes Gumbel. | “Indians brought into the missions were not allowed to leave, and if they tried they were shackled and severely beaten,” writes Gumbel. |
They were used as forced labour to build out the Mission’s farming projects. They were fed atrociously, separated from close family members and packed into tight living quarters that often became miasmas of disease and death. | They were used as forced labour to build out the Mission’s farming projects. They were fed atrociously, separated from close family members and packed into tight living quarters that often became miasmas of disease and death. |
When the Native Americans rebelled, which they did on at least two occasions, their rebellions were put down in brutal fashion. | When the Native Americans rebelled, which they did on at least two occasions, their rebellions were put down in brutal fashion. |
When Native American women were caught trying to abort babies conceived through rape, the mission fathers had them beaten for days on end, clamped them in irons, had their heads shaved and forced them to stand at the church altar every Sunday carrying a painted wooden child in their arms. | When Native American women were caught trying to abort babies conceived through rape, the mission fathers had them beaten for days on end, clamped them in irons, had their heads shaved and forced them to stand at the church altar every Sunday carrying a painted wooden child in their arms. |
Native Americans in California have protested against the move in the run-up to Pope Francis’s visit. But it is not yet known whether the pope will address the controversy on this trip. | Native Americans in California have protested against the move in the run-up to Pope Francis’s visit. But it is not yet known whether the pope will address the controversy on this trip. |
Gumbel continues: | Gumbel continues: |
The Vatican would like to believe that Serra and the missionaries were somehow separate from the Spanish colonial enterprise, and that the army’s abuses should not in any way be laid at Serra’s door. Pope Francis said in May that Serra was one of a generation of missionaries ‘who … defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the colonisers.’ | The Vatican would like to believe that Serra and the missionaries were somehow separate from the Spanish colonial enterprise, and that the army’s abuses should not in any way be laid at Serra’s door. Pope Francis said in May that Serra was one of a generation of missionaries ‘who … defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the colonisers.’ |
Most historians, however, dismiss that interpretation as fanciful. | Most historians, however, dismiss that interpretation as fanciful. |
You can read all about the controversy here. | You can read all about the controversy here. |
Updated at 12.40pm BST | Updated at 12.40pm BST |
12.18pm BST12:18 | 12.18pm BST12:18 |
Meanwhile, at the White House, the secret service have begun screening and checking the journalists and dignitaries who are lucky enough to have clearance for Pope Francis’ visit. | Meanwhile, at the White House, the secret service have begun screening and checking the journalists and dignitaries who are lucky enough to have clearance for Pope Francis’ visit. |
First secret service checks as we get ready to go to The White House with #PopeFrancis #PopeinUS pic.twitter.com/ZAIWnS7AQ3 | First secret service checks as we get ready to go to The White House with #PopeFrancis #PopeinUS pic.twitter.com/ZAIWnS7AQ3 |
Among them is Dan Roberts, the Guardian’s DC bureau chief, who will be contributing to our coverage today. His twitter is here. | Among them is Dan Roberts, the Guardian’s DC bureau chief, who will be contributing to our coverage today. His twitter is here. |
12.15pm BST12:15 | 12.15pm BST12:15 |
It is just before 7:15 and the sun is just rising in Washington, DC. It’s set to be a beautiful day - high of 77 degrees farenheit; bright, clear and sunny. | It is just before 7:15 and the sun is just rising in Washington, DC. It’s set to be a beautiful day - high of 77 degrees farenheit; bright, clear and sunny. |
Sun rises on #PopeInDC parade route. T-minus 4 hours till the Pope rolls! #DC pic.twitter.com/pKnWjPUE36 | Sun rises on #PopeInDC parade route. T-minus 4 hours till the Pope rolls! #DC pic.twitter.com/pKnWjPUE36 |
12.00pm BST12:00 | 12.00pm BST12:00 |
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of day two of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States of America. | Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of day two of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States of America. |
Yesterday the pontiff left Cuba for Andrews Joint Air Base in Maryland, where he was met by Barack Obama, vice-president Joe Biden, and their families, and an adulatory crowd. | Yesterday the pontiff left Cuba for Andrews Joint Air Base in Maryland, where he was met by Barack Obama, vice-president Joe Biden, and their families, and an adulatory crowd. |
Pope Francis arrival and departure from Joint Base Andrews pic.twitter.com/2ZAjdOhaIJ | Pope Francis arrival and departure from Joint Base Andrews pic.twitter.com/2ZAjdOhaIJ |
Today the pontiff is scheduled meet again with Obama at the White House before a procession along National Mall to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where he will lead midday prayers. | Today the pontiff is scheduled meet again with Obama at the White House before a procession along National Mall to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where he will lead midday prayers. |
Stay with us for live updates on what is set to be a very exciting day. | Stay with us for live updates on what is set to be a very exciting day. |
Here’s today’s full schedule: | Here’s today’s full schedule: |
9.15am ET (1.15pm GMT): A welcome ceremony and meeting with Barack Obama takes place at the White House on the South Lawn. | 9.15am ET (1.15pm GMT): A welcome ceremony and meeting with Barack Obama takes place at the White House on the South Lawn. |
11am ET (3.15pm GMT): The pope drives between the Ellipse and a portion of the National Mall in the Popemobile. The parade is open to the public and no tickets are required but those attending have to pass through security. Security gates open at 4am and stay open until 10am. | 11am ET (3.15pm GMT): The pope drives between the Ellipse and a portion of the National Mall in the Popemobile. The parade is open to the public and no tickets are required but those attending have to pass through security. Security gates open at 4am and stay open until 10am. |
11.30am ET (4.30pm GMT): Pope Francis leads a prayer at St Matthew’s Cathedral with US bishops. | 11.30am ET (4.30pm GMT): Pope Francis leads a prayer at St Matthew’s Cathedral with US bishops. |
4.15pm ET (9.15pm GMT): The pontiff holds mass in Spanish at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to canonize Junípero Serra as the first Hispanic saint. | 4.15pm ET (9.15pm GMT): The pontiff holds mass in Spanish at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to canonize Junípero Serra as the first Hispanic saint. |
You can read his full schedule for the week here. | You can read his full schedule for the week here. |
Updated at 12.06pm BST | Updated at 12.06pm BST |