Word: pontiffs
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...sprinting to the finish, and this week he certainly looks like it. At the White House today he laid on a full welcome for Pope Benedict XVI, complete with concussive 21-gun salute, multiple fanfares and Kathleen Battle leading the crowd in "Happy Birthday" in honor of the Pontiff's 81st. Later in the day he made a speech on climate change. On Thursday he sees the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and on Friday the South Korean Prime Minister arrives for a visit to Camp David. Bush then flies to New Orleans for meetings with the leaders of Canada...
...that the world needed his messages of morality and freedom. The theatrics continued with a fife and drum band and a chorus singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic." But by the time Bush held a dinner in Benedict's honor Wednesday night, with the Pope not attending (the Pontiff does not attend dinners given in his honor), it started to look as if Bush was laying it on a bit thick...
...deep shame" at the scandal that he first announced on the plane to Washington; and recalled how individual bishops have spoken to him about "the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior." But the Pontiff also seconded American Cardinal Francis George's introductory statement that the abuse was "sometimes very badly handled" by the Church hierarchy. The acknowledgement that guilt might rest not only with pedophile priests, but with members of the church hierarchy, provoked surprise. "That is significant, that's new," said Fr. Thomas Reese...
...those who truly dote on the Pope, several television stations, including Mother Angelica's Eternal World Television (EWTN), will offer what one observer calls "miter to miter" coverage of the pontiff's trip to America starting today and ending with his departure back to Rome on Sunday. For those with special interests and more limited time, however, we offer the following guide to his travels...
...lone superpower, geopolitics remains the great open question in Benedict's three-year reign. The six-day visit to the United States - which includes a White House visit, an address at the United Nations and a prayer at Ground Zero - may be the best opportunity for the theologian pontiff to define his leadership in international relations. "The Pope per se is simply the custodian of the Catholic tradition," says a senior Vatican official. "He can become a global leader if he manages to embody a battle of ideals that is present in the world...