Pope to Receive Lavish U.S. Welcome
CBNNews.com
April 14, 2008
CBNNews.com - When Pope Benedict arrives in Washington, D.C. tomorrow, he will be welcomed with rare honors not even foreign dignitaries have recevied.
President Bush will meet the Pope at the airport, something no president has ever done for a visiting leader. The Pope's American visit will be only the second time a pope has been to the White House.
How will Pope Benedict address some moral issues facing America? Watch Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus - the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization, for more.
Afterward, a crowd of up to 12,000 will gather at the White House on Wednesday morning for a pomp-filled arrival ceremony. The crowd will be the largest White House gathering in Bush's presidency
The ceremony will feature the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their meeting. Afterward, the Pope will take a ride in his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Bush will also host an East Room dinner in the Pope's honor. Wednesday is the pontiff's 81st birthday. The menu celebrates his German heritage with Bavarian-style food.
As for lavish welcome, Bush said he wanted to honor Benedict's conviction that "there's right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies."
"One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith," Bush told the EWTN Global Catholic Network in an interview aired Friday.
The Pope will also stop in New York later this week.
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