In a little over a month, the United States will be receiving an unprecedented visit from the 266th pope of the Catholic Church, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis. His six-day itinerary will include visits to Washington DC, New York, and Philadelphia.

After arriving in Washington DC, he is scheduled to meet with the highest offices in the land, President Obama and Congress. The meeting with the House and Senate will be the first time a pope has ever addressed a joint session of Congress. 

He will then travel to New York to speak to a general assembly of the United Nations. The assembly will be celebrating its 70th anniversary. Here the pontiff is expected to address the assembly on such matters as "sustainable development," also known as “post-2015 sustainable development agenda.” In short, this is the powerful nations of the world uniting under the common cause of eradicating poverty. Of course, the driving force will be the richer countries pooling their finances together to accomplish the goals set forth by the UN. 

Here are a few statements from the United Nations recent endorsement of this global action plan:

The United Nations General Assembly today endorsed the new global action agenda for financing sustainable development adopted two weeks ago by a major UN conference, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the move as a major step that firmly puts the world “on the path to a more prosperous, just and sustainable world for this and future generations.”

General Assembly President Sam Kutesa said today’s action “will further demonstrate our collective commitment towards eradicating poverty, achieving sustainable development and building a better future for all,” and urged UN Member States to “do whatever it will take to ensure that the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is fully implemented.”

The outcome document adopted at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier this month, the Action Agenda contains a series of bold measures to overhaul global finance practices and generate investments for tackling a range of economic, social and environmental challenges.

In his statement to the Assembly, Mr. Ban said by endorsing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, “we launch a new era of cooperation and global partnership.”

Leaving New York, the pope's next stop will be Philadelphia, where some are expecting the largest gathering ever organized on US soil. Estimates say the crowds could swell to more than a million and a half people at the Festival of Families, Saturday, September 26th. Here is the schedule of events. 

The leader of the Catholic Church addressing the government of the most powerful nation in the world, then addressing the most powerful organization in the world, and then having the largest gathering ever on US soil; everyone would consider this a major event in world history, but you might be interested to know that there will be something special happening in the sky while all this is happening on earth. Just after the pope is scheduled to leave the United States, on September 28, the fourth and final Blood Moon of the lunar tetrad will show itself over the world. The words of our Lord Jesus come to mind: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring..." Here are some note-worthy events taking place in and around that time.

Sept 13th is the Jewish celebration known as Feast of Trumpets, with partial solar eclipse occurring on same day. In the old testament the feast of the trumpets was one of seven Jewish feasts or festivals and one of three feasts that occur in the autumn. The Feast of Trumpets falls on Rosh Hashanna (the head of the year). This is the start of the civil year (not the start of the religious year).

As the pope departs back to Rome on Sunday evening, September 27th, the Jewish world will usher in the celebration of Feast of Tabernacles, also known as The Sukkot. This feast is known as one of the “pilgrimage” festivals described in Leviticus 23. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the 40 years that the Israelites wondered in the wilderness after being freed from their bondage in Egypt.

Another phenomenon will take place on the Sukkot. The fourth and final blood moon of the recent tetrad, which has occurred over the last two years, will take place on September 27th and 28th.

Here are the dates and Jewish feast days for the lunar tetrad.