Pope Benedict XVI plans to travel to the United States in the spring to address the United Nations, but other possible U.S. stops haven't yet been confirmed, the Vatican said Wednesday.Benedict accepted an invitation from the U.N. secretary-general.
U.S. bishops and the Vatican have also been discussing other possible stops, including Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington.
However, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that only the spring visit to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly had been confirmed.
A stop in Boston would send a particularly poignant message of papal concern over the clerical sex abuse scandal, which erupted there in 2002 and forced its archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, to resign in disgrace.
The planning for the trip is delicate because it would come amid a presidential election campaign.
The trip is Benedict's first international visit planned for 2008. In July, Benedict is due to attend World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. Later in the year, he is due to visit the shrine in Lourdes, France, which in 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Madonna.
Pope John Paul II visited the United States seven times during his nearly 27-year pontificate, the last time in 1999.
The 80-year-old Benedict completed his seventh foreign trip as pope earlier this month with a three-day visit to Austria.
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