US President Barack Obama; his wife, Michelle, and Pope Francisco salute from the balcony of the White House to 15,000 guests at the official ceremony to welcome the pontiff, who today will mark the beginning of his official agenda in the country.
Obama will receive the pope on his arrival in the White House and the ceremony will begin at 9:00 local time.
There will be speeches of both Obama and the Pope and before greeting from the balcony, will perform gospel choir of the Church of St. Augustine, the oldest black Catholic community of Washington.
The pope will end his visit to the White House with a private meeting with Obama in the Oval Office.
Amid tight security, both the 15,000 invited guests and accredited journalists had to wait in line to enter the White House, according to Efe agency.
Among the guests at the welcoming ceremony included the mayors of cities like Milwaukee, El Paso, Tampa, Las Cruces, Portland or Austin, as well as students of institutes of Greater Washington, the White House said.
Today will be the third visit of a Pope to the White House.
In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter received Pope John Paul II and almost 30 years later, in 2008, George W. Bush hosted Benedict XVI.
Pope Francisco in the US on Tuesday landed in Andrews Air Force Base (Maryland), from Santiago de Cuba.
The Obama entire family, including two daughters of the marriage and the mother of the first lady, went to meet the Pope to the base in the company of US Vice President Joseph Biden; his wife, Jill, and two of his granddaughters.
Concluding his visit to the presidential mansion, about 11:00 local time (15.00 GMT), the pope in his popemobile tour the streets surrounding the park Ellipse south of the White House.
Along with visits to the White House and Congress, one of the most anticipated events of the Pope in Washington is today officiate the Mass to canonize the Spanish Franciscan Junipero Serra, founder of the first missions of California in the eighteenth century.