Pope Benedict visits the White House Wednesday for formal talks with President Bush.

President Bush is hosting a lavish ceremony for Pope Benedict at the White House, along with thousands of well-wishers.

Pope Benedict XVI received an unprecedented presidential greeting from George W Bush and the first lady Laura Bush as he arrived for his maiden official visit to the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI is flying to Washington Tuesday and says he is "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sex abuse scandal that hit the U.S. Roman Catholic Church.

During his visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI will pray at Ground Zero, which has become the national civic shrine memorializing those who died in 2001 on 9/11.

More than eight of out of ten Catholics are satisfied with the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a poll of Catholic adults in the United States. More than seven out of ten are equally satisfied with the leadership of the U.S. bishops, a14-point jump, from 58 to 72 percent, since 2004.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte will welcome Pope Benedict XVI in a video to be shown at the papal Mass in Washington, D.C.

Next week (15-20 April 2008), Pope Benedict XVI makes his first official visit to the United States. He is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House, deliver an address at the United Nations, and celebrate mass at outdoor stadiums in New York and Washington. The Pope will also visit The Catholic University of America; something his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, did on his first trip to the United States as well.

Pope Benedict XVI will make his first official visit to the United States next week (April 15 - 20), with stops scheduled in Washington and New York City. Among the other items on his agenda, the pope will host an interfaith gathering at a cultural center in the nation's capitol. Representatives from the world's major religions have been invited to meet and discuss shared concerns with the pontiff.

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates an Easter Vigil Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica on Holy Saturday. Tens of thousands braved the cold and rain to join him on Good Friday at the traditional Way of the Cross procession at the Coliseum.

Pope Benedict XVI will hold a solemn service in Saint Peter's Basilica Friday on the Passion of the Lord, in commemoration of Good Friday. Later, he will take part in the traditional "Way of the Cross" procession at Rome's ancient Coliseum.

Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit the White House during his first visit to the United States as pontiff. The approximate date of his visit - April 16.