A delegation of Philadelphia representatives announced a visit to Rome later this month to meet with Pope Francis and plan next year's World Meeting of Families global event. 

Governor Tom Corbett, Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput and business executives from Comcast, Aramark and Blue Cross will travel to the Vatican to convince the Pope to join the international meeting that will take place Sept. 22 to 27 of next year. 

"We have also created an executive leadership cabinet whose role will be outreach to the broader corporate and philanthropic community," Chaput told press on Friday.

Chaput described the nine-member delegation as, "an executive leadership cabinet whose role will be outreach to the broader corporate and philanthropic community." None of the officials in business, government, philanthropy and religion are women, although two are Comcast executives. 

The last World Meeting of Families, located in Milan in 2012, welcomed an international crowd of one million from more than 150 countries, who traveled near and far to attend mass presided over by then Pope Benedict XVI. Next year's event in Philadelphia will be the first World Meeting of Families to take place in the United States. If Pope Francis agrees to attend, it could be his first visit to the country. 

Chaput said that currently, the Archdiocese has raise $5 million, but needs more to cover the logistics of the event, including security. The Archdiocese plans to raise the funds locally, Chaput said. 

"I don't know exactly what it's going to cost yet," Chaput told press. "It's going to require the commitment of the whole community to raise those funds to pay for basic costs."

"It's going to be an extensive undertaking," Corbett confirmed, adding that Southeastern Pennsylvania would benefit from tourism. "The estimates, as I understand it from a possible economic impact,are in the range of $100 million."

The popularity of social-media-friendly Pope Francis among U.S. Catholics could draw a larger crowd than Philadelphia has ever seen at one time. In a recent Pew Research poll, Papal favorability has reached its highest point since John Paul II in 1996. Pope Francis has an 85 percent approval rating among U.S. Catholics. Even a majority of non-Catholics believe that the current Pope represents major change for the Catholic Church—change for the better.