Pope greets quake children

POPE John Paul II yesterday

Among those attending were schoolchildren from the tiny town in southern Italy where an earthquake collapsed a school in October, killing 27 students. At the audience’s end, scores of them gathered around the Pope as he sat in a chair.

Seated on the stage of the Vatican’s modern audience hall, between two decorated Christmas trees, the Pope was feted by bands and choirs singing carols from their native countries.