Pope Francis' First Visit To America - Photos

78-year-old Roman Catholic leader Pope Francis is on his first visit to America

The first family and Twenty thousand people flooded the White House South Lawn this morning to welcome and hear Pope Francis address the nation in his first speech in America.

The pope was late to his appointment at the White House, after stepping outside his Washington, DC residence to greet schoolchildren who had been waiting since before dawn to catch a glimpse of him.

After both the Pontifical Anthem and the Star-Spangled Banner were played, a military procession took place and a President Obama got up to introduce the pope.

'Our backyard is typically not this crowded,' the president joked in his opening comments. 'The size and the spirit of today's gathering is just a small reflection of the deep devotion of some 70million American Catholics.'

Francis, the first pope born in the Americas, spoke in English to adress the crowd of 20,000 which included prominent DC Catholics such as Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Kennedy family matriarch Ethel Kennedy.

While English is not the pope's strongest language, he spoke slowly to make his opinions on climate change, international relations and religious tolerance clear.

He started off by thanking President Obama for his warm welcome to the U.S.

'I am deeply grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans,' Francis said. 'As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.'

-Edited from Daily Mail