From Baltimore, there’s first official word of the pope’s trip to the States next spring — just in time for the Washington cherry blossoms, it turns out:

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the U.S. in April, according to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican’s representative to the U.S., who made the announcement to the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops Monday.

Most papal tours are not announced until three months in advance, and details are often not released until weeks ahead of time. But Sambi took advantage of the bishops’ annual meeting to release plans for Benedict’s first visit to the U.S. as pope.

According to Sambi, the itinerary begins with the pope’s arrival in Washington on April 15. He will receive a White House welcome on April 16, his 81st birthday, and meet with U.S. bishops at the Shrine of Immaculate Conception.

On April 17, the pope will celebrate a public mass at the stadium now under construction for the Washington Nationals baseball team. He will also meet with the presidents of Catholic colleges and universities and attend an inter-religious event at the John Paul II Cultural Center.

The centerpiece of his tour will be a papal address to the United Nations on April 18. He will also attend an ecumenical event in New York. On April 19, the anniversary of his papal election, Benedict XVI will celebrate a mass with priests, deacons and members of religious orders at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and attend a youth event at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers.

On April 20, he will visit Ground Zero and celebrate a public mass at Yankee Stadium.

“I am delighted that the pope will celebrate his anniversary of his election as successor to Peter with the priests and youth of America,” Sambi said to the bishops on Monday.

Those of us from the neighboring diocese of Brooklyn, who have fond memories of John Paul’s visits to our neck of the woods, will try to contain our disappointment. Maybe next time.