Pope Urges U.S. to Extend Hand to Immigrants

Pope John Paul II, declaring himself a “pilgrim of peace,” arrived here on a drizzly Wednesday for his fourth visit to the United States and promptly exhorted America not to turn its back on the world’s immigrants or the poor in its midst.

Looking tired and drawn but walking without assistance, the 75-year-old pontiff carefully descended the steps from his Alitalia airliner and was greeted by President Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and a throng of other well-wishers, including ranking bishops of the church and local, state and federal dignitaries.

John Paul wasted no time in setting the tone for his five-day visit to the East Coast, during which he will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations with a major address today.

World peace, the needs of the poor, immigration, the disparity between rich and poor nations and the obligation of individuals and nations blessed with much to share with others: These were the themes that he stressed Wednesday and is likely to repeat in the days ahead.

Since the fall of communism, the Pope said, U.S. influence around the world--political, economic, military and cultural--had become stronger than ever.

“Your power of example carries with it heavy responsibilities,” he declared. “Use it well, America. Be an example of justice and civic virtue, freedom fulfilled in goodness, at home and abroad.”

No sooner had Clinton welcomed the Pope to the United States than John Paul, plunging into the U.S. political debate over immigration, urged that the welcome extended to him be offered as well to the world’s downtrodden and oppressed.

“It is my prayerful hope that America will persevere in its own best traditions of openness and opportunity,” the Pope said, his flowing white vestments ruffling in the wind. “It would indeed be sad if the United States were to turn away from that enterprising spirit which has always sought the most practical and responsible ways of continuing to share with others the blessings God has richly bestowed here.”

Last year, California voters approved the controversial Proposition 187, which would severely limit health care and education for the children of illegal immigrants. The measure was strongly supported by Gov. Pete Wilson, but court challenges have delayed its implementation.

Other states have looked to emulate the California measure, and the Republican-controlled Congress also has taken up the cry. Catholic bishops in the United States have lined up against these efforts, although rank-and-file Catholics in California voted little differently from non-Catholics on Proposition 187.

Clinton, in his welcoming remarks, aligned himself with the pontiff on the subject of so-called family values and thanked the Vatican for its support of Hillary Clinton’s remarks on behalf of women during a U.N. conference in China last month.

“We know that if we value our families as we must, public policy must also support them,” the President said as the two leaders met for the third time. He thanked the Pope for his “voice for peace and hope and for the values that support every family and the family of humanity.”

In a message directed as much at Congress as at the Pope, Clinton added that family values require decent education, decent wages and children free from poverty.

John Paul also addressed the plight of the poor and disadvantaged within the United States. “America will continue to be a land of promise as long as it remains a land of freedom and justice for all,” he said.

In a variation on a frequent papal theme of “human solidarity” and universal human rights, John Paul said the poor and rich alike must cooperate in building a just society.

“None are so poor that they have nothing to give, and none are so rich that they have nothing to receive,” he said.

Arriving on the 30th anniversary of the first papal address to the United Nations by Pope Paul VI, John Paul said he took heart in new steps toward peace. But without mentioning the war in Bosnia by name, he warned that ancient rivalries and suspicions still threaten the cause of peace.

“We must find ways to set them aside,” he said. “If we do not, history and the Lord of history will judge us harshly.”

On the 10-hour flight from Rome, the Pope joked with reporters who inquired about his health. He has recovered from the broken leg that forced him to postpone his U.S. trip last year. “You see [for] yourself,” he told journalists, “ . . . the Pope is still alive!”

Some 2,000 schoolchildren from the Newark archdiocese turned out at the airport to cheer and wave tiny Vatican flags. U.S. and Vatican flags also hung from the cockpit’s windows. As the Pope reached U.S. soil, one of the pilots leaned out of a window and took a picture with a small camera.

One of the biggest security details in the nation’s history guarded the Pope after his plane touched down. Police and the Secret Service blocked off a two-square-mile area surrounding the gray-stone Sacred Heart Cathedral where John Paul attended services, towing away all cars. Everyone who entered the church--including clergymen and nuns--passed through metal detectors.

After exchanging greetings with Clinton at the airport, the Pope and the President met privately in the office of Theodore E. McCarrick, the archbishop of Newark.

Standing with McCarrick, the pontiff rode to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the specially constructed “Popemobile” as crowds along the route cheered. He waved and bowed from the bulletproof vehicle, moving his right hand in blessing.

As the Pope walked down the center aisle of the cathedral, some cloistered nuns, who ventured out for the first time in years for the papal visit, jumped up and down with joy.

Within the soaring Gothic cathedral, ablaze with light and filled with organ music, the Pope was engulfed by a wave of affection. Hundreds of wildly applauding nuns, priests and laity--many with tears in their eyes--reached out to touch him. And he grasped hands like a practiced politician.

Nuns stood on pews to get a better view, dangling their rosaries toward him. When he finally sat down on the red-cushioned chair near the altar, the Pope looked exhausted after his long day.

“We apologize for our weather,” McCarrick told John Paul. “We have been praying for rain because of the drought. We did not realize our prayers were so powerful.”

“Let us thank God for the extraordinary human epic that is the United States of America,” the Pope said.

In a preview of his speech to the United Nations, he praised the world organization on its 50th anniversary as “an instrument of dialogue and peace.”

“The United Nations has a necessary role to play in developing and relieving the normal suffering which the world’s peoples and nations inflict on each other,” he said.

The Pope added that suffering in the 20th Century had reached “unprecedented proportions in political and biological aggression by those who plot evil in their hearts.”

He urged that the United Nations be strengthened as a “guarantor of peace and justice.”

Times staff writers John J. Goldman, Stanley Meisler and Eleanor Randolph and special correspondent Helaine Olen contributed to this story.

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The Pope’s Schedule

What Pope John Paul II is doing in the United States:

* Today: Addresses United Nations General Assembly. Offers homily during Mass at Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

* Friday: Celebrates morning Mass at Aqueduct Racetrack. Tours the grounds of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., leading the evening prayer service there and addressing seminarians.

* Saturday: Celebrates Mass on the Great Lawn of Central Park. Meets with Cardinal John J. O’Connor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan; recites the rosary and delivers a brief address in the cathedral later in afternoon. Visits the Holy See Mission to the United Nations. Holds a series of informal meetings at O’Connor’s residence with leaders of other Christian churches, regional Catholic bishops and representatives of Jewish organizations.

* Sunday: Journeys to Baltimore. Celebrates Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Attends lunch at soup kitchen, along with 20 guests, clients of Catholic Charity programs. Visits Basilica of the Assumption. Meets with leaders of the Catholic Relief Services. Speaks at Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. Stops by St. Mary’s Seminary on the way to Baltimore-Washington International Airport; speaks at airport before 8 p.m. departure.

Source: Associated Press