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Chaput, Nutter, Corbett to meet with pope

With 18 months to go before Philadelphia hosts the Vatican's World Meeting of Families, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is expected to announce Friday that he, Mayor Nutter, and Gov. Corbett will soon meet with Pope Francis to discuss what promises to be an enormous international gathering.

The Vatican's World Meeting of Families is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to Philly in Sept. 2015 - even more if the Pope attends. Philly Archbishop Chaput, Gov. Tom Corbett and Mayor Nutter are expected to meet March 26 with the Pope to discuss the event.  (ALESSANDRA TARANTINO / AP /File)
The Vatican's World Meeting of Families is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to Philly in Sept. 2015 - even more if the Pope attends. Philly Archbishop Chaput, Gov. Tom Corbett and Mayor Nutter are expected to meet March 26 with the Pope to discuss the event. (ALESSANDRA TARANTINO / AP /File)Read more

With 18 months to go before Philadelphia hosts the Vatican's World Meeting of Families, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is expected to announce Friday that he, Mayor Nutter, and Gov. Corbett will soon meet with Pope Francis to discuss what promises to be an enormous international gathering.

Chaput is expected to say at a morning news conference that their audience with the pontiff will take place March 26 at the Vatican. Corbett and Nutter, honorary co-chairs of the event, are expected to join him for the announcement, the archdiocese said.

Begun in 1994 by Pope John Paul II, and held every three years in a different city, the World Meeting of Families could draw hundreds of thousands of people to Philadelphia in September 2015 - and more if the pope attends.

The 2012 World Meeting of Families in Milan, Italy, drew about 350,000 people from 153 different nations, and about a million people streamed to the city for a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

It was at that Milan meeting that Benedict publicly announced that the Philadelphia Archdiocese would host the eighth such gathering.

A celebration of traditional family life and values, the five-day gathering of prayer, teaching, and jubilee will promote Roman Catholic values, according to archdiocesan officials, but welcome non-Catholics.

Although the archdiocese announced last year that the theme of the Philadelphia gathering would be "The Gospel of the Family, Resource of Humanity," officials said the Pontifical Council on the Family would formally announce the theme during the March visit.

Scheduled for September 22 to 27, the World Meeting will feature lectures and programs at venues across the Philadelphia area, with separate programming pitched to children and adults.

The Philadelphia gathering will be the first time that the event will be held in the United States.

doreilly@phillynews.com

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