CNN’s Wolf Blitzer will anchor The Situation Room live from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 17. The special program will focus on Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church during the pope’s final day in the nation’s capital. Blitzer will also provide in-depth coverage of the pope’s address at 5 p.m., which will be held on the Catholic University campus and delivered to the heads of more than 200 Catholic U.S. colleges and universities and to the superintendents from the 195 Catholic dioceses.

CNN correspondent Brian Todd will join Blitzer in reporting from the campus. Todd will explore the relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and other religious faiths. Correspondent Mary Snow will also be covering the pope for the program.

The Situation Room is CNN’s daily political news broadcast. It airs weekdays from 4-7 p.m. Eric Sherling is the executive producer.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

CNN Pressroom - Multiplatform Effort Will Report on Pope Benedict’s U.N. Address, Public Events, Meetings

CNN will use its unparalleled newsgathering resources to cover Pope Benedict’s first official papal visit to the United States, from Tuesday, April 15, through Sunday, April 20, in Washington, D.C., and New York. Online as well as on CNN/U.S., CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and Headline News, CNN will report on the pope’s address to the United Nations, his meeting with President George W. Bush, his visit to Ground Zero in New York and other events.

This trip to the United States marks Pope Benedict’s sixth country that he has visited since becoming pope in 2005. There are more than 67 million Catholics in the United States and more than a billion Catholics worldwide.

Soledad O’Brien anchors CNN’s special live coverage on Sunday, April 20, as Pope Benedict visits Ground Zero of the World Trade Center and officiates Mass in New York’s Yankee Stadium. O’Brien will be joined by weekend CNN Newsroom anchors T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen reporting from location and CNN’s Vatican analyst John Allen. CNN’s coverage begins with the pope’s arrival on Tuesday, April 15, and continues with contributions throughout the visit from Jim Acosta, Wolf Blitzer, Jason Carroll, Ines Ferre, Ed Henry, Juan Carlos Lopez, Colleen McEdwards, Kyra Phillips, Richard Roth and Mary Snow.

CNN.com will offer expanded coverage of Pope Benedict’s trip. Through multimedia and interactive elements, as well as traditional stories and videos, viewers around the world will be able to view the visit as CNN.com Live will stream all available ceremonies and events live in their entirety, as well as feature live reports from the field with John Allen.

Viewers and users are encouraged to share their firsthand accounts of the pope’s public events through video, photo, or audio submissions to www.iReport.com, CNN’s recently launched user-generated community Web site. CNN will have a mobile iReport station at the public Mass held at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., for attendees to upload personal stories, photos and videos related to the pope’s visit. Contributors also may gain recognition by having the material they submit to the site – once vetted and approved for use – appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

Broadcast worldwide, CNN’s papal coverage will reach more than 310 million TV households, while also being available to CNN broadcast partners CNN+, CNN Turk, CNN IBN and more than 1,000 affiliates.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Bios:

Lola Ogunnaike

Photos:

Becky Anderson

Mary Snow