Pope Francis arrives in the US

Pope Francis arrived in the United States on Tuesday for his first visit. He was greeted by US President Barack Obama. His historic trip will last six days.

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Pope Francis is greeted by U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other political and Catholic church leaders after arriving from Cuba September 22, 2015 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Francis will be visiting Washington, New York City and Philadelphia during his first trip to the United States as Pope. Chip Somodevilla/AFP

Pope Francis makes historic first US visit

Washington, Sept 22, 2015, AFP – Pope Francis arrived in the United States on Tuesday for his first visit – a historic six-day trip to the spiritual home of capitalism after his tour of communist-ruled Cuba.

The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff stepped onto US soil for the first time at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where he was greeted by US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters.

Pope Francis laughs alongside US President Barack Obama upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base on the start of a 3-day trip to Washington. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB

US Catholic leaders and a select crowd of several hundred well-wishers were on hand to greet the pope, who wore his traditional papal whites and waved to the crowd, who chanted: "Ho ho, hey hey, welcome to the USA."

A small group of children from Catholic schools in the Washington area were brought forward to welcome the pontiff.

Obama will host the Jesuit pope at the White House on Wednesday.

In the United States he will find an American public that widely respects him, but has a less favourable view of the Catholic Church.

While 81 percent of Catholics have a positive view of the Church, only 55 percent of Americans as a whole do, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News earlier this month.

And for some critics the dominant themes of his papacy – his critique of consumerism, calls to embrace poverty and condemnation of a "throwaway culture" – sound suspiciously like an indictment of the American way of life.

Francis will make two key speeches during his visit, addressing Congress on Thursday and the United Nations on Friday.

On Tuesday, he travelled to the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Washington, where he will be staying, in a Fiat 500, eschewing larger, more polluting vehicles.

Pope Francis waves from the back of his environmentally-friendly Fiat. Chip Somodevilla/AFP

School children cheer as the Pope passes by. Chip Somodevilla/AFP

The visit will take place under tight security, with US authorities on top alert to handle the complexities of protecting a pope who insists on traveling in an open vehicle to be closer to the masses.

Authorities are facing a particular security headache in New York, where Francis plans to criss-cross Manhattan at a time when 170 world leaders will be in town for the UN General Assembly.

He will wrap up his trip Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia at an international festival of Catholic families.

The pope arrives in the United States after four days in Cuba, where he said three masses before adoring crowds and met President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel, the men who have ruled the island since its 1959 revolution.

Pope Francis rides through Santiago de Cuba, in eastern Cuba on September 22, 2015. The Pope's fondness for getting close to the people will give US security personnel much to worry about. AFP PHOTO / POOL / ALEJANDRO ERNESTO

The pontiff, the first from Latin America, played a key role in brokering the recent rapprochement between Washington and Havana, which resulted in the restoration of diplomatic ties in July after more than half a century.

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