Pope Leo says he wants to visit U.S. within 'couple of years'

Pope Leo XIV told NBC Nightly News and Noticias Telemundo he wants to make a papal visit to the United States “soon,” or at least within a “couple of years,” but has not yet scheduled one. The Chicago-born pontiff spoke from the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, after presiding over the “Canticle of Peace” prayer gathering Wednesday. The event featured tenor Andrea Bocelli and the ABF Voices choir, 164 children from Israel, Uganda, Haiti and Italy, Vatican News reported.

“They will see me there,” Leo said of a trip to the United States. “By coincidence” he said he had been looking at a calendar “for the next couple of years.” “Nothing is set in stone yet,” he said, “but I certainly hope to be there soon.”

Leo told NBC that being American is only part of his overall mission. “I have great love for America but I understand my mission as having a very important dimension, which is precisely being pastor of a universal church and having a voice and an opportunity to speak to people throughout the world,” he said. He added that he loves America for “so many things. In a sense, speaking about principles, what America stands for, the sense of freedom, the sense of opportunity, the sense of having invited for generations people from around the world to be part of America.” When asked how important being from the United States is to him, he said, “I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American. Not to belittle what it means to be an American.”

Leo has clashed with President Donald Trump over immigration policy since his election last year. On July 4, Leo visited Lampedusa, Italy, an island where many migrants land on their way to Europe, and appealed to Americans to treat immigrants with “compassion and generosity.”

In May, Trump said on a radio show, “Well, the pope would rather talk about the fact that it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don't think that's very good.” Leo responded that “the mission of the church is to preach the gospel, to preach peace.” In April, Trump attacked Leo because he spoke out against the Iran war. Leo responded, “Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way.”