Washington: President George W Bush and the First Lady Laura Bush will roll out the red carpet for visiting Pope Benedict XVI, who is paying a three-day visit starting today, during which he will address the United Nations and visit the Ground Zero.
Pope Benedict XVI is only the second Pontiff to visit The White House after Pope John Paul II. For the first time ever a President of the United States will be travelling to the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to personally receive and greet the Pontiff and participate in an arrival ceremony.
On Wednesday, which happens to the 81st birthday of the Pontiff, the President and the First Lady will be rolling out a ceremonial welcome on the lawns of the White House where the participating crowd is expected to be twice the size of last May when Queen Elizabeth was showered with honours. He will be given a 21-gun salute, a ceremonial military honour used for a visiting foreign heads of state.
As many as 12,000 people are expected to be at the South Lawn and guests will include the Catholic clergy, ecumenical representatives, local Catholic school children, and members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Sisters of the Poor and the Knights of Columbus.
The ceremony at the South Lawn will be followed by a meeting in the Oval Office between the Pontiff and Bush and later that evening the President and the First Lady will host a dinner for Catholic leaders and friends in honour of the Pope at the East Room of the White House.
Although, the Pontiff himself will not be at this dinner as he is scheduled for a Prayer Service at the time at the Basilica of the national Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
