I'm a new contributor to this blog about the Papal visit, and since I'm a parishioner in the Arlington Diocese, I'll have more of a personal interest than the heretic separated brethren Julia Duin.

My name is Victor Morton, and I'm deputy national editor at The Times. I'm one of Julia's editors and the go-to guy for her and others on things-Catholic at the Times. Though since she rejected my idea for calling her BeliefBlog "Encyclicals," I withheld the imprimatur. My Times obituary for Pope John Paul II was a widely praised two-page spread and picked up by several other publications, including Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesean paper.

Since I'm not the reporter Julia is, I'll start my contributions to this blog with the story of how I reacted to the election of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy. The College of Cardinals had been in session for a few days, but Cardinal Ratzinger apparently overcame negative campaigning by Cardinal Arinze (as reported on by Stephen Colbert at Comedy Central, archived here). The election was announced in Rome, early in the morning U.S. time and I get a call on my cell phone from an excited church friend while I'm still asleep. Here is the conversation, as best my sleep-fog-bound brain recalls:

Me (barely-awake): Hello?
David: It's Ratzinger
Me (not understanding): Huh?
David: It's Cardinal Ratzinger
Me (still befuddled): What?
David: A pope. We have a pope. It's Cardinal Ratzinger.
Me: Oh
(I start dancing in my bedroom and break out into joyous song)
Me: The Inquisition … let's begin. The Inquisition … look out sin …

P.S. yes, I know, I know … the office Cardinal Ratzinger headed was the Papal Inquisition (or rather a successor to it) and not the Spanish Inquisition. And obviously Brooks is picking up historical exaggerations for comic purposes (ya think? Mel Brooks do such a thing?) And obviously, his papacy has been anything but an Inquisition. And obviously … my singing the song was a joke, though it's a true story. As was the "Cardinal Arinze ad."

— Victor Morton, deputy national editor, The Washington Times

The official papal visit logo for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Tuesday, April 15:

Pope Benedict XVI's plane Shepherd One lands at Andrews Air Force Base. He spends the night at the papal nunciature on Massachusetts Avenue. Benedict has never been to Washington but he has visited Dallas, Menlo Park, Calif. and St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., the latter in 1988.

Wednesday, April 16:
Benedict's 81st birthday

Morning: Visits White House. This will only be the second time a pope has visited the mansion. Jimmy Carter welcomed John Paul II there on Oct. 6, 1979. Afternoon: Meets with about 300 U.S bishops at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Thursday, April 17:

Morning Mass at Nationals stadium. Afternoon meetings at Catholic University (with university presidents and diocesan education directors) and the John Paul II Cultural Center (interfaith meeting)

Friday, April 18:

Early morning departure for New York, where he will stay at the U.N. Vatican delegation's New York headquarters on 72nd Street. Late morning: Delivers speech at United Nations. Afternoon ecumenical event at St. Joseph's parish in the ethnic German enclave of Yorkville on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The church seats 300.

Saturday, April 19:

Morning: Celebrates a Mass for priests, deacons and religious orders at St. Patrick's Cathedral to commemorate the third anniversary of Benedict's election to the papacy. Afternoon: Meets with disabled children, young people and seminarians at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers; in all, about 20,000 people.

Sunday, April 20:

Morning: Visits ground zero in lower Manhattan. Afternoon: Celebrates Mass at Yankee stadium before returning to Rome.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

Popes don't visit Washington every day, which is why, starting today, we're hosting this Papal Visit blog to keep tabs on every detail about Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 visit to here and the Big Apple.

It's a privileged spot, being where the pope chooses to alight; especially with the current pontiff who at nearly 81 years may not get back to these shores again. Being that it's hard to track ALL the details of the where and when of pope watching, we thought we'd provide a one-stop place where you can read up on various articles, itineraries, press releases and other factoids one will need to know to take full advantage of Benedict's first visit to our capital city.

Although the major contributor to this blog will be myself, I hope to draw other editors and reporters into the mix. I'm a veteran of two papal events: the 2005 election of Pope Benedict, which I covered out of Rome, and John Paul II's multi-city swing through the southern states in 1987. At the time, I was working for the Houston Chronicle, which assigned four reporters and an army of photographers to follow the gregarious pontiff about the country.

There will be a lot of details out there too miniscule for a story but appropriate for a blog. Benedict moves a little slower than John Paul did. He generally limits himself to two public events per day with a rest period in the early afternoon. He will be driven — not helicoptered — about Washington and New York but unfortunately will not be taking part in any parades or motorcades. The local archdiocese will control who gets to share meals with him at his digs at the papal nunciature here and at the Vatican delegation's resident on 72nd Street in New York. So your chances of glimpsing him during his visit is small unless you're one of the lucky 45,000 Catholics (or 65,000 in New York) who gets to attend one of two stadium Masses.

Feel free to post questions and comments about the visit on this blog, as I will be talking regularly with planners of the 2008 visit and may have a chance to get answers to some of the questions. There are few things — for a reporter — more interesting or fun than a papal visit, so here's hoping you find these next three months as fascinating as I will.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times