It was announced Sunday morning that Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will lead the American delegation attending the departure ceremony for Pope Francis when he departs to Rome, Italy, after the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families.
Pope Francis is expected to leave around 8 p.m. Sunday from Atlantic Aviation at the Philadelphia International Airport.
PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum doesn’t expect Biden’s trip to the airport to force road closures that would impact traffic flow. If anything, he said Sunday, there could be a temporary, short stoppage of traffic to allow the motorcade to pass through the area.
Joining the Bidens at today’s departure ceremony will be: Gov. Tom and Mrs. Frances Wolf; Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. and Mrs. Lisa Nutter; Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput; Robert J. Ciaruffoli, president of the World Meeting of Families; Donna Crilley Farrell, executive director of the World Meeting of Families; Robert Isom, vice president and COO of American Airlines; Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston; Monsignor Ronny Jenkins, general secretary, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Monsignor J. Brian Bransfield, pontifical faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies; Bishop John J. McIntyre, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, Archdiocese of Philadelphia; the Rev. William Donovan, Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
