Pontiff Calls for Broad Remedies

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Pontiff Begins Historic U.S. Visit in the District

Pope Benedict XVI was greeted with pealing church bells, enthusiastic throngs and gorgeous spring weather during a historic journey across Washington that took him from the green expanse of the South Lawn of the White House to the stone steps of one of the city's most spectacular churches.

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The White House pulled out all the stops for the pope's arrival ceremony. Famed American soprano Kathleen Battle sang a version of the Lord's Prayer, eliciting enthusiastic applause from Benedict. The pope also received a 21-gun salute as the U.S. Marine Band played the national anthems of the Holy See and the United States.

After brief remarks, the president and the pope, accompanied by first lady Laura Bush, walked up the west steps and proceeded to the balcony next to the Blue Room, where Benedict spread his arms in acknowledgment of the cheers.

Inside the White House, the president offered the pope birthday cake, then they went into the Oval Office for a private meeting.

In Benedict's remarks yesterday morning, he spoke effusively of the United States. "As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time," he said, "I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight . . . in the effort to build a more humane and free society."

In the private meeting, lasting almost an hour and conducted without any aides present, Bush and Benedict had a more detailed discussion of such issues as immigration, the defense and promotion of life, and the struggle against pandemics and poverty, especially in Africa, according to a joint statement from the White House and the Holy See.

There had been speculation that the pope might use the occasion to again raise his concerns about the war in Iraq, but White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president raised the subject first, discussing his concern for the safety of the Christian minority in Iraq, an issue dear to the pope.

The statement said the two men discussed Latin America and immigrants and "the need for a coordinated policy regarding immigration, especially their humane treatment and the well-being of their families."

Staff writers Michelle Boorstein, Alan Cooperman and Michael Abramowitz contributed to this report.