Nervous, But Optimistic: Chaput Confident In City Planning Efforts Ahead Of Pope's Visit
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- With a little more than five months to go until Pope Francis arrives in Philadelphia for a 36-hour visit, the leader of the region's Roman Catholics is nervous, but optimistic everything will be ready when he gets here.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput says he is confident the city planners and church officials engaged in the myriad of activities surrounding the planning for the Pope's visit will complete their mission on time.
"I think we have an extraordinary group of people that's organizing this," says Chaput. "And, they're genuine professionals, many of them have done things like this before, which I haven't done. So that gives me confidence we're doing the right things."
Chaput says he met privately with the pope in February and discussed the history of the church in Philadelphia and suggested a couple of activities for him beyond those surrounding the World Meeting of Families.
The archbishop says the pope's schedule still has not been finalized, but he's optimistic that might happen soon.
The pope is due here Saturday, Sept. 26 and will leave after a Mass on the Parkway on Sunday, Sept. 27.
