Wisconsin Francis-icano reader, vol. 1

WisSJ:  With well-laid plans, and some luck, Madison-area Catholics hope for a glimpse of Pope Francis

Morlino said he hopes the pope will spend some time in the U.S. talking about the recent papal encyclical on the environment. While many people have come to think of it as a document primarily about climate change, Morlino said it more broadly addresses how respect for the environment “must flow out of respect for the ecology of human nature.”

That means respect for the sacredness of life, respect for marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, and respect for the fact that “God created each person with his or her own gender, and he didn’t make mistakes,” Morlino said.

 WBAY: Green Bay Group Embarks on Pilgrimage to see Pope Francis

Bishop David Ricken joined the group on their pilgrimage. He’ll meet Pope Francis face-to-face on Wednesday.

“Pope Francis is very appealing to people he knows, people’s lives, their experiences, and he touches those lives with what he has to say, he offers the mercy of Jesus to people, he’s just a wonderful,” said Bishop Ricken. “First of all he’s a priest, and now he’s the pope, you know, the shepherd of the world.”

If he would have just come here, we wouldn't need the cutout.

Students from Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay, Wis., are pictured outside of Lambeau Field with a cutout of Pope Francis Sept. 7. Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt had hoped that Pope Francis would celebrate a Mass on the Green Bay Packers' playing field as part of his U.S. visit. (CNS photo/Sam Lucero, The Compass)

GBPG: Local pilgrims pumped for papal visit

They also will visit Daylesford Abbey, a Norbertine community outside Philadelphia. The Rev. Andrew Ciferni, director of the Center of Norbertine Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere and parochial vicar for the college parish, is a member of Daylesford Abbey.

Ciferni also wrote the words for the official hymn of this year’s World Meeting of Families. The song “Sound the Bell of Holy Freedom” was selected in December.

Fox6: As pope lands in U.S., delegations from Milwaukee head east

Archbishop Jerome Listecki says Pope Francis is all about the gospel, and people are listening.

"He's a leader who's drawn attention to making sure that we never forget our obligation to those who are in need around the world. I believe that 's the attraction by so many within the Catholic church and outside of the Catholic church," Listecki said.

JS: When the pope was in our backyard — in 1979

Sisters Louise (left) and Rita Paul from St. Anne’s Home for the Elderly wait for Pope John Paul II to celebrate Mass in Chicago on Oct. 5, 1979.

SPJournal: Stevens Point parishes celebrate papal visit

WEAU: Diocese of La Crosse organizing pilgrimage to see Pope Francis

This week's visit marks 50 years since the first papal visit to the United States by Pope Paul XI, but Chris Rogers, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of La Crosse, says Pope Francis is unlike any other.

“Just having him here, having him among us, close to us, that we can see him, experience him, and listen to him presently as we're with him," he said. "And this Pope, he's something else, he's getting a lot of attention, he's doing so much to encourage us to take care of the environment, to take care of each other. And people are listening.”