Pope Francis' address before the United Nations later this week is a highly anticipated event. Roger Clark has more on what we should expect to hear from the Vatican's ambassador to the UN.

When the flags go up at the United Nations on Friday, the Vatican flag will be raised for the first time ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the annual gathering of world leaders.

"The pope will not be speaking primarily as a politician. He will not be speaking like a technical expert. He will not be speaking like a high UN official. But he will be speaking, above all, as a pastor, as a religious leader," said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations.

Auza talked to the media about the pope's appearance, the fifth visit by a pontiff. The Vatican flag will go up because of a successful campaign by Palestine to have the flags of non-member observer states raised. The Vatican and Palestine are the only such states there. 

Francis is expected to address the General Assembly for half an hour, focusing on the themes he's stressed in his papacy.

"Poverty, social justice, climate change, and what we call peaceful institutions and societies," Auza said. "These are also the priorities of the Catholic Church."

The archbishop talked about the excitement surrounding the pope's visit. To some extent, he attributed it to the media.

"So many of his words have been picked up by the general press," Auza said. "Not only the specialized, Catholic or Christian or whatever press, but also really by the big providers of news in the world."

Of course, traffic is always a mess on the east side during the General Assembly, and the pope's visit may add to that. Residents near the UN say at this point, they are used to it.

"There's difficulty getting around. It's difficult to cross the street. But these are good problems in the grand scheme," said one area resident. "I think it's a worthwhile conversation."

Of course, not everyone is as thrilled.

"You can't go anywhere. You've got all of the feds and the locals," said one area resident. "It's difficult to move around."

As one resident who works at the UN put it, this is an important visit, worth the inconvenience, though someone stuck in traffic may not agree.