500,000 Greet Pope on 1st Day in Paris

Pope John Paul II was greeted by thousands of flag-waving youths on the first day of a four-day rendezvous that will culminate with Catholic World Youth Day on Sunday. “Dear young people, the church believes in you,” John Paul told an estimated crowd of 500,000 supporters gathered near the Eiffel Tower. “She is counting on you.” John Paul was shaded by a white umbrella from the late afternoon sun during the first big rally of his visit. Earlier in the afternoon, in front of about 50 young volunteer charity workers, the 77-year-old pontiff seemed to be wilting with nothing to shelter him from the midday sun, temperatures near 90 and smoggy air.