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| | Pope Benedict XVI walks with U.S. President
George W. Bush after arriving at Andrews
Air Force Base outside Washington April 15.
(CNS photo/Larry Downing, Reuters) | |
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (
CNS) --
Welcomed by U.S. President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush and an array of church officials, Pope Benedict XVI began his first pastoral visit to the United States as pope April 15.
The papal plane landed at
Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland at 3:51 p.m. EDT, nearly 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The pope was to spend the next two days in Washington before traveling to New York April 18.
Among the church leaders greeting the pope were Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the
U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services; and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., USCCB vice president.
Neither Bush nor the pope delivered any formal remarks at the air base, since the pope's official welcome was to take place the next day at the White House. It was the first time that Bush had gone to Andrews to welcome any arriving head of state.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said at an April 15 briefing before the pope's arrival that Bush would tell the pontiff at the White House that "the hearts of the American people are open to the Holy Father's message of hope."
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... the hearts of the American people are open to the Holy Father's message of hope. |
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Pope Benedict "will hear from the president that America and the world need to hear his message that God is love, that human life is sacred, that we all must be guided by common moral law, and that we have responsibilities to care for our brothers and sisters in need at home and across the world," Perino added.
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