Welcoming pope at White House

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
April 24, 2008

Although the notice to attend the welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House was short, two Sioux City men were among the thousands on hand to greet Pope Benedict XVI.

Jerry Eaton, executive director of Catholic Charities in Sioux City, described it as an unusual experience. He mentioned that he had never received this type of opportunity, so he and everyone went with an energized excitement.

"I was let in with the first group - my ticket was one of the early ones at 7:30 in the morning," he noted. One minute he was standing alone, Eaton recalled, and then within minutes there was a "colossal number of people all around you."

With a three-hour wait, he sat for a while before "walking around the edges," eventually getting closer than he had been.

Jim Wharton, former diocesan director of communications, said that when he arrived at the White House, the line was about three-quarters of a mile long.

"The number of people in line was incredible - everyone well dressed. It was like we were going to church," said Wharton, who noted he made it onto the White House grounds by about 8:30 a.m.

Both of these men received an invitation to the ceremony via e-mail just about a week before the April 16 event.

Organizers estimated that 12,000 people attended the ceremony. That's twice as big as the biggest crowd they have ever had at the White House, which was for Queen Elizabeth.

"All of them had a ticket - some had standing tickets and some had seating tickets," noted Wharton. "I was fortunate enough to have a seating ticket. I was able to have a real good vantage point of everything that was happening."

He mentioned that he was in his seat for two hours before the ceremony began and could see the crowd continue to grow and grow.

"It was so impressive," said Wharton. "A couple of things really struck me - one is the precision of these White House events. It was supposed to start at 10:30, so at 10:28 the Army Band started playing Hail to the Chief and then the President and Mrs. Bush walked out of the White House and a minute later here comes the pope's limousine to the front of the White House."

He recalled that the president opened the door and greeted the Holy Father "and a huge roar spread across the entire crowd."

Eaton also made note of the variety of patriotic songs and the speeches.

"There was a whole mix of things happening - quite a bit of pageantry," he said.

When the pope made his speech, what struck Eaton was that the pontiff spoke of the founding fathers of the country and their set of values and beliefs. The pope said, "From the dawn of the Republic, America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to moral order based on the dominion of God the creator. The framers of this nation's founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights."

Much of what the pope said tied in with the mission of Catholic Charities. Eaton said Pope Benedict is always consistent in his message. Even his first encyclical, God is Love, centered on how the role of religion is to develop one's own humanity.

"Once the human being is well formed and well developed, then that well formed and well developed person can go about the civic life, the political life, from a much more responsible position," said Eaton.

In the end, the experience wasn't just about seeing the pope - Eaton said that would make it just an event. The important part of the visit is taking what the pope said and putting it into action.

Despite the fact that it was a secular welcoming of a head of state, Wharton said, "There was also a very spiritual component to the whole morning." He added that it felt like being in church.

"They had a singer do the Lord's Prayer, accompanied by a musician on a harp. It was very emotional and you could tell the Holy Father was struck by how beautiful it was - the setting and singing the Lord's Prayer," he said.

This was only the second time that a pope has visited the White House and to be a part of that, noted Wharton, was "an incredible experience. I'm so grateful - it's something I will never forget."