By Joe Macaron, KUNA,
Washington : Pope Benedict XVI starts on Tuesday his journey to the United States where he meets with President George W. Bush, becoming the second pontiff to visit the White House.
The Pope would likely address in his meeting with Bush the future of Christians in the Middle East, with a focus on Iraq in particular after the assassination of Archbishop Boulos Faraj Rahho, the head of the Chaldean Catholic church in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The discussions are also likely to cover Christians in Lebanon with the unfolding political crisis and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories where violence is ongoing and the peace process still in a stalemate.
“I think this topic will be on the Pope’s heart during his conversation with President Bush,” said the Director of Parish Life in the Archdiocese of Washington Suzanne Timonei in an interview with KUNA.
She said that the Vatican is concerned about Christians in the Middle East who are choosing to leave of their own volition or out of security fear and the Pope wants “this community to be stable and to grow.” Timonei said she is not sure what other key issues will come up in the White House meeting, but the Pope will stress on the importance of peace building.
Two former Popes visited the United States, Pope Paul VI in October 1965 and Pope John Paul II in 1979 when he met with former President Jimmy Carter in the White House and in 1995.
“The intention behind my visit is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States,” said Pope Benedict in a speech ahead of his visit to the United States where he will celebrate his 81th birthday on April 16.
The Pope arrives today to Andrew Air Force, accompanied by over 30 Vatican officials, mainly State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisio Bertoni and 60 members of the Vatican press corps.
The route of the customized, bullet-proof “Pope mobile” vehicle in Washington will go along the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue where the Pope will stop to meet with President Bush.
Timonei confirmed that the Pope will not attend the dinner President Bush is hosting in his honor later tonight.
“The Pope hardly ever eats a meal publicly,” she said, while noting that it is not in the Vatican tradition to go to State dinners.
In his three-day stop in Washington, the Pope will lead a private prayer with 350 bishops of the United States at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, offer a public mass at the Nationals Park, address over 200 Catholic college and universities in the United States at the Catholic University of America, and meet with representatives of Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Jews at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.
“One central issue that will come up again and again is what it means to live with hope,” said Timonei.
The Archdiocese of Washington has nearly 600,000 Catholics, with 140 parishes and 10 pastoral missions in a country with around 67 million Catholics and 17 Cardinals.
The main purpose of the trip is to take a closer look at the progress made in the Catholic Church in the United States, mainly after the sex scandal and abuses that erupted in the United States.
Timonei said that the Pope will definitely address the issue of sex abuses in his many speeches during the visit.
“We are working very aggressively in our service to those who have been harmed and in our work to prevent any child to be abused again,” she said.
American bishops had to adopt in 2002 a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People to deal with the outburst of sex abuse scandals by clergies all over the United States.
Timonei talked about policies in place since 20 years, and noted fingerprints are now taken of all employees in the Archdiocese of Washington who come in contact with children and a formal official in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) makes an annual review to assess progress and investigate any possible abuse.
The Pope will travel on Friday to New York for a three-day stop to address the United Nations, offer a private mass in St Joseph church, and a public mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral and Yankee Stadium, before he visits ground zero at the World Trade Center where the September 11, 2001 attacks took place.