Hope you saw yesterday's piece about some of the unofficial activities connected with the papal visit, including a splashy birthday party for the pope at the Italian embassy. Placido Domingo will be singing some of the pope's favorite songs. This is definitely the invitation list to be on.

It's just too hard to tell whether or not the pontiff will show up here but the embassy is very close to the papal nunciature, so if Benedict is in the mood for one of his famous daily walks, it wouldn't be hard to pop into the embassy. His daily schedule ends at about 7 p.m. each day, so there's room for lots more activity.

There's been all sorts of rumors as to who's meeting with Benedict on the sly. I'm hearing that some Catholics will have a meet-and-greet during the White House welcoming ceremony earlier on April 16. Then there's the informal klatch he may have with United Nations staff after his keynote speech on April 18. Please inform this blog if you hear of others.

At one point, there was a rumor he'd be a guest of the mayor at Gracie Mansion — one block away from the papal digs where he'll be staying on the Upper East Side — on Friday night the 18th, the first night of Passover. Now wouldn't that be a story?

Joseph Zwilling called me to dispel that notion. Where the rumor got started, he said, is that Gracie Mansion had been suggested as a staging and reception area for ecumenical leaders who will be meeting with the pope late the afternoon of the 18th. Organizers decided to use a nearby Catholic school instead.

"There was never an invite extended for Gracie Mansion nor an expectation the pope would go there," he said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be present during papal visits to Ground Zero, Yankee Stadium and, of course, when he arrives at Kennedy Airport, he said.

Well, it's a cool idea. Imagine the headlines: "Pope to share Passover with N.Y. mayor."

Again, here is the lowdown on the April 16 birthday party:

Itinerary for pope's U.S. visit combines official, informal

By Julia Duin
March 30, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI has two schedules for his upcoming U.S. visit: A packed list of official events and an unofficial schedule of evening meetings, including a huge birthday party at the Italian Embassy starring world-famous tenor Placido Domingo.

The splashy April 16 party — in celebration of the pope turning 81 — is sponsored by all eight former and current U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican. Several hundred people are invited.

The pope — who will meet that afternoon with U.S. Catholic bishops at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast — is not expected to make the party's 6:30 p.m. kickoff time.

In fact, he's not even been officially invited, said Thomas P. Melady, ambassador to the Vatican from 1989 to 1993. But the papal nunciature on Massachusetts Avenue Northwest — where the pope will be spending the night — has been notified of the event in case he wishes to drop by. The embassy is on Whitehaven Street, within walking distance of the nunciature.

"It's really not in his tradition to attend parties," explained Mr. Melady, now senior diplomat in residence at the World Institute of Politics. "His happiest days were when he was a young priest and teaching at the seminary."

But just in case, Mr. Domingo will be singing some of Benedict's favorite songs. He, along with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, will also be performing the following day during the Nationals Stadium Mass.

Several hundred people, including a wide range of local Catholics and Vice President Dick Cheney, have been invited. Many are hoping Benedict will show.

"I've known him for a number of years," said American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Novak, also an invitee. "I'd love to see him."

"We've been told he's not coming, but I hope he is," said Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.

A spokeswoman for the Italian Embassy said she was not aware of the event, and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican ambassador, could not be reached for comment.

But Raymond Flynn, ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton administration, is attending. He knew the pope during the days when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He also said there will be several off-the-record gatherings with the pope during his six days in the country.

"That's the way it always is when the pope comes," he said. "There are private conversations and discussions with people here. I think they want to keep those meetings as private as they possibly can. They [the Vatican] will release an official schedule, but they'll leave a lot out."

Inquiries around the Catholic community seemed to bear this out. Robert George, a leading Catholic scholar at Princeton University, implied he'd be meeting privately with the pope in Washington but refused to divulge details.

The Rev. Dennis McManus, a consultant with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Benedict has "a full evening at the nunciature" planned for him after an April 17 meeting with interfaith leaders at the John Paul II Center near the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He also would not divulge details.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

The archdiocese is saying all those 45,000+ bar-coded Nationals Stadium tickets for the April 17 Mass have arrived and are now being sorted at their office. Parishes should be getting them sometime next week.

Also, hope you are saw today's story on Benedict's upcoming meeting with interfaith leaders. Just talked with a rabbi who's part of that gathering and he says the leaders are negotiating for some extra time with the pontiff, beyond what's been alloted in his schedule. Currently, the pope is not slated to spend a whole lot of time with some 200 people gathered at the John Paul II Center and was not supposed to be taking part in a banquet that's being prepared for all the guests. Maybe now he'll get to linger.

Organizers keep on talking about the pope's "busy schedule" but it's no great secret that the interfaith gathering ends early in the evening and, at least officially, the pope has nothing scheduled after that.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

Sounds like a few years ago — Oct. 7, 2004, to be exact — Catholic University President David O'Connell got an unusual letter across his desk from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

The two men already knew each other; Cardinal Ratzinger had confirmed his appointment to CUA in 1998 and the two had chatted for an hour back then about "theology and matters of concern in Catholic education," according to the president. In 2003, during another meeting, Father O'Connell invited the cardinal to CUA for a day dedicated to his writings. Cardinal Ratzinger declined because of reasons of health.

Then came the 2004 letter. "The Catholic Church has become increasingly concerned by the contemporary difficulty in finding a common denominator among the moral principles held by all people, which are based on the constitution of the human person and which function as the fundamental criteria for laws affecting the rights and duties of all," it began. Which was Cardinal Ratzinger's way of asking CUA to organize an ecumenical symposium on moral principles everyone can agree on.

The cardinal has asked two other universities elsewhere in the world to also put together similiar symposia but neither were able to do so. But Father O'Connell, with the help of his chief planner, law professor William Wagner, took it on. Four years and $100,000 in organizing costs later, the conference is about ready to begin.

Starting Thursday and lasting throughout the weekend, "A Common Morality for the Global Age," will be held in the Great Room of the university's Pryzbyla Center, is about to take off. About half the speakers are Catholics and the others run the gamut. Information about the gathering is posted on CUA's Web site. Most of you know that Benedict is quite the scholar himself and this kind of confab is really his cup of tea.

The idea behind the gathering is for a pontifical university like CUA to organize a gathering on universally-held moral principles, invite various scholars of different religions and enjoy the repartee. Catholics have a name for such self-evident moral principles: Natural law. The lofty idea behind all this was to foster a "global culture possessing the moral insight to address the world's pressing problems," according to the university.

But why Washington?

"The pope recognizes the attractiveness of the American academic setting," Father O'Connell told me, "and quite frankly, we know our American universities are the best in the world. I think he probably saw that, and that Washington, DC is the most powerful city in the most powerful country in the world."

Last summer, the CUA president sent word to Benedict that the conference was a go. Archbishop William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith — Benedict's old position — responded to say the pope wants copies of all the papers delivered at the conference. He'll get them in a bound volume some time this summer, personally delivered by Father O'Connell in Rome. The university president gets to the Eternal City quite a lot. And he has been a major player in the upcoming papal trip; a few months ago, he and Washington Archbishop Wuerl put together a list of talking points the pope might want to address during his April 15-20 visit.

"He has talked about moral relativism from the beginning of his papacy," Father O'Connell said. "This is something he personally has an interest in, so it is a great opportunity for a university to engage such a significant topic."

Photo courtesy of Catholic University

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

LOTS of news out today about the papal visit, thanks to a press conference this morning at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and a lunch meeting between Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and writers and editors of The Washington Times.

An account of the latter will be on the front page of Friday's paper.

And a video of Archbishop Wuerl walking us through the pope's April 15-18 Washington visit is posted here:

Video by Christian Fuchs

First, the press conference, which included Archbishop Wuerl and the Most Rev. Timothy Broglio, the new archbishop for the military services.

"I expect what he'll do is confirm us in our faith," Archbishop Wuerl said when asked what Catholics could expect from this visit. "We'll hear him try to strengthen us in the faith. That is one of the tasks of Peter. It will be a very spiritual message. He'll be reminding us there is a spiritual dimension to all of human life."

When asked what sort of person the pope is, Archbishop Wuerl said Americans will experience "a warm, caring, kind person who happens also to be extremely bright, very intelligent and extraordinarily capable."

Archbishop Broglio, who has spent many years in Rome, fleshed out Benedict's character: A dignified but reserved man who tends to not have guests at meals nor at his daily Mass.

"His public schedule is less ambitious than his predecessor," said the archbishop, referring to the more gregarious John Paul II, "but he maintains his studying, writing and rest."

And his 4 p.m. walk through the papal gardens.

As for the April 17 Mass at Nationals Stadium, "Priests from all over the country are coming to concelebrate with the pope," Archbishop Wuerl admitted, "far more than we anticipated."

Of the 45,000 people who will cram themselves into the stadium, the few non-Catholics in the crowd will include some 20-25 religious leaders from other faiths.
And then there's us in the media; archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said officials have gotten 3,600 applications from the media alone — listed on 13 single-spaced pages — for the open air Mass. About one in 20 of those applicants will make it in.

"A big chunk of tickets will stay here because we're the host and we're doing all the work," Archbishop Wuerl said. Parishes drew by lottery the stadium seating locations for their members. Tickets won't be sent out until about two weeks before the Mass, making it harder for them to be sold on eBay.

He also described the attitude of the overworked folks at the chancery as "holy exhaustion." No argument there.

When asked what the pope will say to the multitudes who gather to hear him, "I think he will affirm us in the faith. And I think he will challenge us to live it out."

Less than an hour later, he was at the Washington Times building, at a pre-arranged lunch with writers and editors here. The staff here asked him all sorts of questions, ranging from (naturally) the papal trip to immigration, Iraq, Catholic schools and the Internet.

We wanted to know how he would help celebrate the pope's 81st birthday on April 16.

"I am trying to find 81 candles," he joked. There will be a cake, he added, probably presented to the pope during lunch at the papal nunciature on Massachusetts Avenue.

He also revealed he will riding about Washington in the famous pope mobile. Not only will there be a parade route near Catholic University in Northeast, but apparently there will be some kind of viewing of the pope as he leaves the White House and returns to the nunciature.

I pressed him a bit for details on his movements during the pope's three days in the District.

"The instructions we received from Rome was that, 'When the pope arrives, you'll become part of his entourage. That is, don't expect to get home,'" he joked.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

I got a very interesting phone call from Anahat Kaur, the physician I quoted earlier about how the Sikhs got cut out of the April 17 papal audience. In a previous story, I had quoted a Secret Service spokesman as saying the discussions between them and the Sikhs had gone on for "months" but that both sides had reached an impasse on whether they would be allowed to bring in their religiously mandated swords or daggers.

She called me to say the timeline was false. In fact, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had not even gotten on the matter until Feb. 14, she said, which is when they informed the Secret Service that some of the guests would be carrying their daggers, also known as "kirpans." World Sikh Council leaders, the USCCB and the Secret Service then had a conference call the next day.

"On Feb. 19, the Secret Service told us our presence would not be possible," she told me. "It was one conference call and then they made a decision. It is so disingenuous for them to say this is a safety issue."

First off, the guests get thoroughly searched in a secure place before being transported to the papal meeting site. "They said they weren't concerned about the Sikhs using the kirpan (on the pope) but they thought someone else would grab it," she said. "That's just crazy.

"If I wanted to harm the pope, I could just grab a cross and bang him on the hed with it."

I called the Secret Service to ask about this rather huge discrepancy and never got a call back.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times

We're including the official release on the Who's Who in interfaith circles gets invited to the April 17 papal audience at the John Paul II Cultural Center. Plans had been to slate the gathering on Friday the 18th; only that night is the first night of Passover, which made it quite a problem for Jewish guests.

Before we cut and paste the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops press release, I hope you all get to read my story on today's front page about one group that will NOT be attending the interfaith klatch: that is, the Sikhs, who aren't about to lay aside their ceremonial daggers for the meeting.

Having spent some time with Sikhs during a visit to India 18 months ago and knowing some of the persecution they have endured over 500 years AND knowing a little bit about the baptism ceremony where the dagger — known as a kirpan — is endowed, I can understand why they would not want to put aside something they consider just as sacred as would a Muslim woman her hijab.

Here is the link to that story.

Anyway, it didn't take long for the USCCB to sub in a smaller group: the Jains, an offshoot of Hinduism known for its care for animals and vegetarian practices.

JEWISH, ISLAMIC, BUDDHIST, JAIN, HINDU LEADERS TO MEET WITH POPE BENEDICT XVI IN WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON — Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Jain and Hindu communities will meet with Pope Benedict XVI April 17, at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center during the April 15-20 papal visit to the United States.

The meeting will include a papal address, greetings from inter-faith leaders and the presentation of symbolic gifts by young members of each community.

Bishop Richard Sklba, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, noted that the theme Religions Working for Peace will run through the meeting, to which 200 leaders have been invited.

"The cry for peace in our world calls for religious bodies to come together," Bishop Sklba said. "This meeting denotes the Holy Father's belief in the need for religious bodies to stress the goal for peace which lies at the heart of all religions. It exemplifies what must happen all over the world."

The gifts symbolize the path to peace in the deepest teachings of each group. They include:

A silver menorah with seven lights. It symbolizes the perennial validity of God's covenant of peace. Silver is frequently used in the Eastern European Jewish tradition. The menorah recalls the seven branched lamp stand used in the temple in Jerusalem.


A small, finely crafted edition of the Qur'an, in green leather and gold leaf edging. The Qur'an is the revered word of God, proclaiming God's message of peace. Green is the traditional Islamic color.


A metallic cube representing the Jain principles of non-violence and respect for a diversity of viewpoints as a way to peace through self-discipline and dialogue.


The sacred syllable Om on a brass incense burner. Om is the primordial sound of creation itself, by which God's liberating peace is made known. Bronze or brass are widely used for Hindu liturgical ornaments. Incense sticks are used in ritual worship among Hindu believers.


A bronze bell cast in Korea. In various Buddhist cultures, the sound of the bell demarcates the times of meditation, which leads to inner peace and enlightenment.

Presenters of the gifts include:

David J. Michaels, director of Intercommunal Affairs at B'nai B'rith International, the oldest Jewish humanitarian, advocacy and social action organization. A graduate of Yeshiva University, he trained at the Foreign Ministry of Germany, the Embassy of Israel in Washington, Ha'aretz — International Herald Tribune, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the United Nations, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.


Saman Hussain, born in Pakistan and a graduate of the University of Virginia where she majored in religious studies and foreign affairs. Saman served as a leader of the Muslim Student Association and was a coordinator of the Unity Walk in memory of the victims of 9/11, organized by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.


Aditya Vora, a Jain young adult studying at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He has been active since high school in the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum, dialogues with Holocaust survivors in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, and anti-prejudice, multi-cultural training programs on Long Island, NY. He received the "Student Human Rights Award" from the Smithtown, NY, Anti-Bias Task Force.


Masako Fukata, born in Tokyo, Japan, is an active youth leader of Rissho Kosei-kai, a socially engaged Buddhist organization headquartered in Tokyo with six million members world-wide. Inspired by Pope John Paul II's hosting of the global inter-religious assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace at the Vatican in 1994, Ms. Masako served an internship in the Religions for Peace International Secretariat in New York in 2003. She is a member of the newly developing North American Regional Multi-Religious Youth Network.


Ravi Gupta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Religion at Centre College, Kentucky. With a doctorate in Religion from University of Oxford, he is the author of The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami: When Knowledge Meets Devotion. He participated in a recent USCCB-Hindu consultation and is committed to pursuing interreligious dialogue in both his professional and personal capacities.

Ten participants will personally greet the pope. They include:

Rabbi Gilbert S. Rosenthal
Executive Director, National Council of Synagogues
New York, New York
Consultant, Catholic-Jewish Advisory Committee


Rabbi Joel Myers
Executive Vice President, The Rabbinical Assembly
New York, New York
Consultant, Catholic-Jewish Advisory Committee


Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President of Orthodox Union
New York, New York
Member, USCCB-Orthodox-Union Dialogue


Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director, The Islamic Society of North America
Washington
Co-Chair, Midwest Muslim-Catholic Dialogue


Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Chairman, Fiqh (Islamic Law) Council of North America
Garden Grove, California.
Co-Chair, West Coast Muslim-Catholic Dialogue


Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini
Religious Director, Islamic Center of America
Dearborn, Michigan
Member, Midwest Muslim-Catholic Dialogue


Arvind Vora
Chairperson of Interreligious Affairs,
Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA)
Getzville, NY


Reverend Bishop Jongmae K. Park, Ph.D.
Korean Buddhist Taego Order
Los Angeles, California


Eido Shimano Roshi
Abbot, Zendo Shobo-Ji and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji
New York


Uma Mayasekhara, M.D.
Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam
Director, The Hindu Temple Society of North America
Flushing, New York

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times