Crowd burst into song for Benedict

AN ENTHRALLED South Lawn crowd of more than 9,000 sang Happy Birthday to Pope Benedict XVI yesterday — twice — and President George W Bush said that the first papal White House visit in 29 years was a reminder for Americans to “distinguish between simple right and wrong”.

The pontiff turned 81 yesterday, on his first trip to the United States as leader of the world’s Roman Catholics. His 90-minute stay at the White House — only the second ever by a pope — was accompanied by the kind of pomp and pageantry rarely seen even on grounds accustomed to routinely welcoming royalty and the world’s most important leaders.

Lampposts fluttered with flags in the red-white-and-blue of America and yellow-and-white of the Holy See. The vast South Lawn was filled with the largest crowd of Bush’s presidency, requiring a huge television screen so those further back could see. Groups of boy and girl scouts in their uniforms and members of the fraternal group the Knights of Columbus wore their traditional brightly coloured feather headgear. Thousands unable to get inside filled Washington DC’s streets, playing music and waving banners as they waited for a hoped-for glimpse of the pontiff passing by later in his popemobile.

An almost serenely quiet papal arrival at the White House preceded the programme as Benedict’s limousine pulled up the driveway to a greeting from President Bush and his wife, Laura. The two leaders strolled along a red carpet to a platform set up on the lawn, and sat side by side as the US Marine Band played the national anthem of the Holy See while a 21-gun salute sprayed gray smoke into the air. Famed American soprano Kathleen Battle sang The Lord’s Prayer. The US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, dressed in colonial garb, marched past the two leaders.

The affection in the audience for the pontiff was evident. A few yelled “Viva il Papa”. Four toddlers sat on the grass with handmade signs, one reading “We love you pope of hope” and the other showing a birthday cake with an 81 on it. Happy Birthday was sung spontaneously early in the ceremony, and a formal, more full-throated version came at the end.

“God bless America,” said Benedict robustly, to cheers from the excited throng.

No less adoration was evident as the Pope rode along historic Pennsylvania Avenue afterwards, en route at midday from the White House to the Vatican Embassy.

Thousands of people thronged along the streets to see him and Benedict waved frequently to the crowds as the papal vehicle moved slowly along the street. The pontiff has said he was looking forward to meeting a “great people and a great church” during his first papal journey to the United States. The six-day trip to Washington DC and New York coincides not just with his birthday, but the three-year anniversary of his ascendancy to the Roman Catholic Church’s top position. Nurturing the US flock is a sensitive and important mission for Benedict at a time not just of an ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal in the American church, but amid his campaign to tamp down secularism and reignite faith worldwide.

“I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the church in the United States and strengthens the resolve of Catholics to contribute even more responsibly to the life of this nation of which they are proud to be citizens,” said Benedict at President Bush’s side.