UNITED NATIONS -- Pope Francis on Friday opens two weeks of hundreds of speeches by world leaders, an overload of side events and extravaganzas that only countries with a large contingent of envoys can hope to attend and enjoy.
But in addition to what he may say, the crisis of Syria, the deluge of refugees from the Middle East and Africa and the brutality of the Islamic State are certain to run through the events.
Pope Francis, the first pontiff to address to United Nations General Assembly, speaks in Spanish to diplomats that have few problems believing in the science of climate change, unlike the earth-is-flat crowd in the United States. The Pope begins his day meeting UN staff and travels through the building in a motorized cart.
The environment is a central issue for a busy UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has about 230 encounters next week alone
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