WASHINGTON — Pope Francis arrived in D.C. on Tuesday, and embarks on a busy 48 hours.
After an arrival ceremony at the White House and procession to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, there will be a canonization Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
WTOP’s Michelle Basch spoke with the Rev. Ken Lavarone of Sacramento, California, who will take part in the 4:15 p.m. Mass.
He said that during the Mass, Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl will request that Pope Francis make Junipero Serra a saint. Serra was a Franciscan from Spain who established the first Catholic missions in California in the 1700s and is considered a great evangelizer.
“I have been working on the canonization, myself, for about 10 years. The Franciscan Friars of California, through various vice postulators over the last 70 years, have been working very hard to bring this day about,” Lavarone said.
A relic of Serra will also be included in the Mass.
“The relic is a piece of his bone,” Lavarone explained. “When he was beatified … there were some pieces of his bone that were taken and made into relics.”
Twenty-five thousand people are expected to attend the canonization Mass.
