Nutter, Corbett, Chaput to Meet With Business Leaders

Trying to build support for 2015 Catholic gathering, possible visit by Pope Francis.

CBSPhilly reports that Mayor Nutter, Governor Corbett, and Archbishop Chaput are meeting with area business leaders today for a cl0sed-door meeting at the Union League to discuss 2015’s World Meeting of Families — and a likely visit by Pope Francis to Philadelphia during that event.

Nutter said the trio will discuss their recent visit to Rome, where they met briefly with the pope.

Nutter expects today’s session to put new impetus to both the planning and the fundraising for the World Meeting of Families.

“I think, on the ground, this really now starts the more formal (planning) process.  This has a bit of a coming-out aspect here, putting all these leaders together in one place and saying, ‘This is happening.’  I would expect the Archbishop will in fact ask these leaders to get involved from a financial and logistical standpoint.  And Governor Corbett and I will have our roles to play in that regard.”

Nutter does not expect to get a firm answer on whether the pope will attend until about 4-6 months before the event, which begins on September 22, 2015.

Nutter told the station the event will be “fairly expensive” for the city to host.