When Pope Francis visits the US in late September, Amateur Radio special event stations will mark the occasion. The Pope is scheduled to visit the US from September 22 until September 27. Six Papal Visit Amateur Radio special event stations will be on the air while he is here.

The Pope will arrive on September 22 at Joint Base Andrews and first will visit Washington, DC, then meet with President Barack Obama, and address a joint session of the Congress. On September 25, he will attend a UN General Assembly session and take part in a service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. The following day, he will speak at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, before concluding his visit with an outdoor mass in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on September 27.

Call signs from the Washington, DC, area will be K3P and N4P; from New York and New Jersey, K2P; from Southeastern Pennsylvania, W3FRC/WMF, and from Philadelphia, W3P and WM3PEN. Four commemorative QSL cards and a certificate to mark the historic event will be available.

Members of the Potomac Valley Radio Club, the Frankford Radio Club, the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, and the Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club, plus individual radio amateurs, will help to coordinate activity.

A Facebook group has been established for the event.