Pope brings message of power and the poor

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis arrived Tuesday for his first-ever visit to the United States, bringing to Washington a message that its power and wealth should be used to serve humanity.

Bestowing on Francis an honor that few foreign dignitaries receive, both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden greeted the 78-year-old Argentine on the tarmac after the Alitalia papal plane landed at Joint Base Andrews near the capital.

The six-day visit to America gives Francis an opportunity to deliver his message of compassion and simplicity to the world's richest and most powerful country.

He ended a four-day Cuba trip and headed to the United States with the symbolism of reconciliation for the former Cold War foes, while seeking to avoid controversy on the U.S. trade embargo or human rights on the Communist-run island.

The first Latin American pope has electrified liberal-leaning U.S. Catholics, Democrats and many non-Catholics with a shift in emphasis toward concern for the poor and immigrants and his appeals for action against climate change.

In an early signal of the political implications of the visit, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, came to the Senate floor just as Francis set foot on American soil.

Sanders, one of the most liberal members of Congress, praised Francis for 'speaking out with courage and brilliance about some of the most important issues facing our world.”

The pope's criticism of unbridled capitalism has unsettled conservatives. Still, they applaud him for defending church teachings that oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.

Francis will give the first speech by any pope to the U.S. Congress on Thursday morning, an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Friday and an open-air Mass in Philadelphia this weekend.

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said his pleas for social justice are based on church teachings.

'I am sure that I have not said anything more than what is in the social doctrine of the church,” he told reporters on the plane from Cuba.

'My doctrine on all this ... on economic imperialism, is that of the social doctrine of the church,” Francis said.

'If you want me to read the creed, I can,” he told a reporter who asked about criticism that he is too liberal, referring to the prayer of Catholic beliefs said in the Mass.

It is unclear what kind of tone he will strike while in the United States, a country he has never visited despite his extensive travel and his church leadership positions before becoming pope in 2013.

On the plane from Cuba, Francis told reporters he hopes the United States will lift its trade embargo against the Communist island, but does not plan to raise it in his address to Congress this week.

'My desire is that they end up with a good result, that they reach an accord that satisfies both sides, an accord, certainly,” said Francis, who helped broker a thaw between the two countries after more than five decades of conflict.

His decision to go from Cuba to the United States is weighed with symbolism as he pushes the church to pay greater heed to people who live on the periphery.

Reuters and The Washington Post contributed to this report.