Pope Benedict XVI to visit the U.S.

BALTIMORE, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI will visit Washington and New York in April it was announced Monday at the annual U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

It will mark the first papal visit to the United States since 1999, as well as the current pope's eighth foreign trip since taking over leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The details of the six-day trip were also announced at the annual conference.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, said he hoped the visit will bring "a new usefulness, a new spring, a new Pentecost, in the church of America."

Pope Benedict XVI is to arrive in Washington April 15 and visit the White House April 16, said the schedule released by the Vatican.

On April 17 he will celebrate mass at the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium and then meet with leaders of Catholic colleges and universities from around the country.

On his last day in the United States he is to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium.