Apr 18, 2008 10:32 pm US/Central
Pope Surprises Crowd Gathered Outside His Door
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Pope Benedict XVI will lead a pep rally for 25,000 Catholic youth in New York Saturday. But on Friday night he surprised admirers, including a group from Chicago, camped outside his door.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, with a smile as broad as we've seen all week, the Pope greeted those who waited outside his door without any guarantee they'd get a glimpse, but ended up actually speaking with him.
"She said to him, 'Holy Father we wanted to gather the church and the youth from New York to show you that we love you and we're praying for you' and he said 'yes, thank you very much, I know it now,'" said Sr. Maura Walter.
A group from Chicago's North Side was there, too. They'd driven 12 hours to get to New York. They came to pray, and their prayers were answered.
It wasn't a long visit; the Pope blessing them and walked back inside the residence, which is surrounded by some of the tightest security this city has ever seen with a virtual army of police officers, dozens and dozens of vehicles, and an impenetrable perimeter set up around every place he goes.
Other stops for the Pope Friday were the United Nations, where he spoke to the General Assembly about religious freedom and human rights; an ecumenical service with other Christian denominations; and a trip to exchange gifts with a Jewish congregation during the first visit by a pope to an American synagogue.
For the first time since arriving, he did not mention the sex abuse scandal Friday, and there continued to be positive reaction to Thursday's meeting with victims from Boston, especially from Cardinal George.
"I'm very grateful that he did that," Cardinal George said. "He kind of broke through all the reservations of staff and everybody else and said this is the right thing the bishops are doing it and I'm going to do it too."
That meeting not only set an example for American bishops, it may also end up being the most important event, symbolically anyway, of his visit. It sent a clear signal that perhaps for the first time the Vatican understands the magnitude of the scandal and is determined to make amends.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Get More From cbs2chicago.com
