Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Pope RSVPs to UN Invite
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Apr 28, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Apr 28, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The U.N. invited Pope Benedict XVI to NYC earlier this year and the pontiff just accepted. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon extended the invite recently and the pope agreed to an as-yet-unscheduled visit. The previous pope, John Paul II, visited New York twice, in 1979 and again in 1995. His first visit was frenetic in a manner that belied the man's later physical frailty:
He headed first to the United Nations, where he met with the secretary-general, Kurt Waldheim, and addressed the General Assembly. The pope then had lunch with the pope's representative to the United Nations, Archbishop Giovanni Cheli, at the legate's Manhattan apartment. It was then off to the seat of Catholicism in New York, St. Patrick's Cathedral, where John Paul II met with Cardinal Terrence Cooke before celebrating Mass. More than 3,000 priests, brothers, and nuns were in attendance.
After Mass, the pope traveled to St. Charles Borromeo Church on West 141st Street in Harlem, which was celebrating its 90th anniversary. Then it was off to the South Bronx, where the pope was greeted by the Reverend Neal Connolly, vicar of the South Bronx, and visited a church-sponsored housing project. While in the area, then very much the symbol of urban decay, the pope urged the poor not to despair.
He ended the day at Yankee Stadium where he addressed 80,000 mostly middle-class New Yorkers, urging them to treat the poor as their "brothers and sisters."
The next day started with a rousing celebration at Madison Square Garden, where 19,000 teenagers joined the pope as he was entertained by music and song.
From there, the pope headed downtown in style. He was treated to a tickertape parade down Broadway to lower Manhattan, where he took part in a ceremony saluting New York's Jewish community.
A planned stop at the Daytop Village rehabilitation center had to be scratched when, in the only glitch during the visit, a rifle was reportedly seen from a high window at Battery Park City. It was later determined the report had been a hoax.
Pope John Paul II concluded his visit to New York City with a Mass at Shea Stadium, telling the capacity crowd of more than 52,000, "A city needs a soul if it is to become a true home for human beings."
Good lord! That's an agenda any politician or religious person might have difficulty duplicating. Perhaps Pope Benedict has something to share with the Cardinal about all the church closings going on in the city.
Tagged
battery park
battery park city
broadway
bronx
church
city
downtown
general assembly
harlem
housing
madison square
madison square garden
manhattan
Music
new york
new york city
new yorkers
News: NYC
nyc
parade
Park City
pope benedict
pope benedict xvi
pope john paul ii
shea stadium
South Bronx
the city
The U
united nations
yankee stadium
Dave Hogarty
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .