Pope to Visit U.S.; other really important news I forgot to cover

Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit the United States next April, which will mark his first trip here during his pontificate.

Among his stops will be Washington D.C. and New York, and his activities will include conducting Mass at both the new Washington Nationals stadium as well as Yankee Stadium, an address to the U.N., and a visit to Ground Zero. Pope John Paul II, God rest his soul, visited the U.S. seven times during his tenure as the Church's leading man.


In other related news, and in one of the most glaring oversights in The Pasty Quail's history, I included ABSOLUTELY NO COVERAGE on the Dalai Lama's visit to Emory University and Atlanta from October 20-22. As the Quail's de facto religion correspondent, I am embarrassed and ashamed. My only excuse is that I was taking comprehensive exams for my Masters' that week and it just slipped by me. Although, that's not true, because I knew plenty of people that went to see him, and I just dropped the ball.

Though this is a feigned attempt at redemption, here are a bunch of links that chronicle the man's brief visit to Emory:

- Here are a couple videos from Emory of his speeches (RealPlayer), and here is the official site regarding his honorary professorship at the University.

- Further, here are two news stories that I could have posted those four weeks ago, but didn't; one from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before his visit, and one from the AP afterward.

I know it's already too late, and I missed the boat, but if you didn't know this happened or didn't look into it, there was a pretty huge event for him. Though I didn't attend, I heard he was very jovial — even funny at times — and overall a riveting speaker. I wonder if Pope Benedict will invoke the same pleasurable reaction from his crowds.