WASHINGTON — President Bush and a crowd of more than 13,500 welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to the White House on Wednesday.
Bush said that the first papal White House visit in 29 years was a reminder for Americans to "distinguish between simple right and wrong."
"We need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth," Bush said in brief remarks welcoming Benedict to the White House. "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, but in a spirit of mutual support."
The pontiff turned 81 Wednesday, the first full day of his first trip to the United States as leader of the world's Roman Catholics. The crowd sang "Happy Birthday," to the pontiff twice.
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 large television screen so those farther back could see. Groups of Boy and Girl Scouts in their uniforms and members of the Knights of Columbus wore their traditional brightly colored feather headgear. Thousands unable to get inside filled Washington's streets as well, playing music and waving banners as they waited for a hoped-for glimpse of the pontiff passing by later in his "popemobile."
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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