White House pomp is unfurled for pope
After an hourlong celebration on the South Lawn, Benedict XVI and Bush hold a private meeting. Benedict will attend a prayer service with U.S. bishops later today as he turns to serious goals of his visit.
washington -- Pope Benedict XVI today celebrated his first full day in the United States awash in the pomp and ceremony that befits the visiting head of the Roman Catholic Church, who also marked his 81st birthday.
In the bright spring sunshine on the South Lawn of the White House, Benedict and President Bush sounded similar themes on the importance of freedom and the need for moral values to help shape public debates.
"The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility toward the less fortunate," Benedict said.
"It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate," he said.
In his formal greetings, Bush said: "We need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth. In a world where some see freedom as simply the right to do as they wish, we need your message that true liberty requires us to live our freedom not just for ourselves."
After a celebration of graciousness that lasted more than an hour, the pair went inside for private talks in the Oval Office, where they discussed issues including immigration, the Middle East, and the need to fight poverty and pandemics, especially in Africa, according to a joint statement.
After the meeting, the pope left the White House and rode in the popemobile along Pennsylvania Avenue back to the Apostolic Nunciature. The pope waved from his bullet-proof vehicle at the thousands of people seeking to catch a glimpse.
Later, the pope will attend a prayer service with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Because of the service, the pope will skip a White House dinner in his honor.
The visit of a head of state is always full of protocol and pomp, but all stops seemingly were pulled out for Benedict's visit, his first as pope.
The White House estimated that 13,500 guests went through the rigors of a security check in what was billed as the largest such arrival ceremony of the Bush presidency and among the largest ever at the White House.
The pope, who began his morning in prayer at the Apostolic Nunciatore, the Vatican's Embassy, was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a host of dignitaries led by Bush. Famed Soprano Kathleen Battle sang "The Lord's Prayer," and the Marine Band performed the national anthems of the United States and the Holy See.
