Crowds of Catholics line Pennsylvania Avenue to welcome pope

Published: 2008-04-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The sounds of guitars, tambourines and drums filled Pennsylvania Avenue just west of the White House early April 16 as thousands of people gathered to welcome Pope Benedict XVI to America. Led by an estimated 5,000 members of the Neocatechumenal Way from across the country, Catholic pilgrims gathered at sunrise at Lafayette Park before law enforcement officers cleared the square across from the White House for security reasons. Jose Luis Rosario and his wife, Annerias Rosario, members of the Catholic spiritual renewal movement Neocatechumenal Way, were eager to see Pope Benedict. They made the trip from New York with their eight children. "It's an opportunity not only to hear words of life but also that my children see what's important," Annerias Rosario said. Pushing his twin 3-year-old sons in a stroller, Jose Luis Rosario said the pope is "the rock of the faith of the Christian." Police dispatcher James McNally, 37, and his sister made the three-and-a-half hour trip from Manahawkin, N.J., overnight for a chance to see the pope."He's the leader of my religion; to visually see him is something special," said McNally.

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