Papal Visit Media Advisory

Applications for media credentials to cover Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, April 15-20, are available online at http://www.uspapalvisit.org/mediakit/index.htm; access is at Media Credentials. Application deadline is Feb. 21.

• The pope will arrive in Washington on the afternoon of April 15. His visit to Washington will include, on April 16, a morning meeting with President George Bush at the White House and an evening meeting with the bishops of the United States at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
• Thursday's itinerary includes Mass at the new Nationals Park, the first non-baseball event for the stadium, an address to the heads of all U.S. Catholic colleges and heads of diocesan education departments at The Catholic University of America, and an interreligious prayer service at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.
• On Friday, April 18, the pope will go to New York, to address the United Nations and to attend an evening prayer service with Christian leaders at St. Joseph Church on E. 87th Street in the Yorkville section of Manhattan.
• Saturday's program includes Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral with priests, deacons and religious men and women from throughout the country, and a trip to St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, where the pope will meet with young people with disabilities and then preside over a rally and prayer service with seminarians and other young people.
• Sunday morning, April 20, the pope will visit Ground Zero, before an afternoon Mass at Yankee Stadium. A full itinerary is available at www.uspapalvisit.org.

Most events are open to media, but space at many sites is limited. Pools will be established; not all credentialed media can be present at every site. All credentialed media will have access to live feed of events at media centers in Washington and New York, as well as a password-protected Web site to access all of the papal texts.

Credentialing for coverage of the White House event and the United Nations event must be made through the White House or UN. Credential applications for other events will only be accepted online at http://www.uspapalvisit.org/mediakit/index.htm; click on media credentials.

CONTACT: Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, +1-202-541-3200

/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Jan. 29/
SOURCE U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops