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Pope for ‘patient diplomacy to end conflicts’

— PHOTO: AP

EMOTIONAL VISIT: Pope Benedict XVI with U.S. President George W. Bush (right) and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged U.S. President George W. Bush to use “patient diplomacy to resolve conflicts,” but did not mention the Iraq war to which the Vatican is strongly opposed.

“America has traditionally shown herself generous in meeting immediate human needs, fostering development and offering relief to the victims of natural catastrophes,” the pontiff told a joyous welcoming ceremony at the White House.

On the pontiff’s 81st birthday, an estimated 9,000 giddy guests — one of the largest ever at the mansion — packed the sun-drenched South Lawn to wish him. Pope Benedict is only the second pope to visit the White House and the first in 29 years. A Washington who’s who flocked to the White House for the meeting. They included Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, and the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

“I am confident that this concern for the greater human family will continue to find expression in support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress,” the Pope said.

“In this way, coming generations will be able to live in a world where truth, freedom and justice can flourish — a world where the God-given dignity and rights of every man, woman and child are cherished, protected and effectively advanced.”

He backed international efforts to make the U.N. “an ever more effective voice for the legitimate aspirations of all the world’s peoples.”

“The need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity,” he said.

The Pope also praised the vibrant religious life in the U.S., and urged Americans not to lose sight of the right of “each individual and group [to] make its voice heard.

“Historically ... all believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard,” said the pope.

“As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society.”

Earlier, Mr. Bush welcomed the Pope to the White House with assurances that the U.S. was a nation of prayer and that its people were open to his message of hope.

“We need your message that all human life is sacred,” Mr. Bush said.

The President said that “in a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism.”

On Tuesday, during the flight from Rome to Washington, the Pope broached the most sensitive issue surrounding his trip when he told reporters he felt “deeply ashamed” by the child abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. Catholic church, and would “do everything possible to heal this wound.”

The Pope could be expected to take up the issue when he addresses U.S. bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

He also vowed to raise the issue of immigration in his talks with Bush, who has described the failure of his efforts to overhaul U.S. policy on that volatile issue as a major disappointment. — Agencies

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