WASHINGTON (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI, making the first White House papal visit in three decades, pleaded Wednesday for "patient diplomacy" not war to end global disputes as an adoring crowd sang him "happy birthday."
Under a cloudless sky, President George W. Bush welcomed the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics with a 21-gun salute, a famed soprano singing a soaring "Lord's Prayer," and an earnest "peace be with you."
Some 13,500 people packed the mansion's South Lawn -- the largest such crowd of Bush's presidency -- waving little Vatican and US flags, as cries of "viva il Papa!" (long live the pope) mingled with the two national anthems and two choruses of "happy birthday" for the pontiff, 81.
"You've chosen to visit America on your birthday. Well, birthdays are traditionally spent with close friends, so our entire nation is moved and honored that you have decided to share this special day with us," said Bush.
One family of five held up a banner declaring "We love you pope hope." A giddy overflow crowd spilled beyond the White House gates into the park across the street. A lucky few US officials met the pontiff himself.
"I express once more my gratitude for your invitation, my joy to be in your midst, and my fervent prayers that Almighty God will confirm this nation and this people in the ways of justice, prosperity and peace," said Benedict XVI.
Neither leader expressly mentioned areas -- the death penalty, the war in Iraq, and harsh CIA interrogation methods -- in which the Bush administration and the Vatican do not see eye to eye.
But with the war in its sixth year and amid rising US tensions with Iran, the pope appealed for "support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress."
With the November US elections on the horizon, Bush invoked the Vatican's teachings where they align with the conservative views espoused by his Republicans -- like opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
"In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary," said the president.
Bush also mentioned the global war on terrorism, declaring: "We need your message that God is love. And embracing this love is the surest way to save men from falling prey to the teaching of fanaticism and terrorism."
Benedict XVI was just the second pope to visit the White House and the first to come here in 29 years.
In a one-on-one Oval Office meeting, the two leaders discussed the plight of Christians in war-torn Iraq, agreed on the need to create a Palestinian state, said crisis-hit Lebanon must be free of undue foreign influence, according to a joint statement released by the White House.
"The Holy Father and the president also considered the situation in Latin America with reference, among other matters, to immigrants, and the need for a coordinated policy regarding immigration, especially their humane treatment and the well being of their families," they said in the statement.
On his flight from Rome to Washington on Tuesday, Benedict broached the most sensitive issue surrounding his trip when he said he felt "deeply ashamed" by the child abuse scandal that has rocked the US Catholic church, and would "do everything possible to heal this wound."
The pope was expected to take up the issue when he addresses US bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The pope in public made no mention of his sharp past criticisms of Iraq.
Benedict said in his Easter message last year that "nothing good comes out of Iraq" and more recently lamented the "grim sound of arms" in the world's conflict zones, in particular "Iraq, Lebanon and the Holy Land."
At the White House, the pope was a hit with Washington resident Romanita Barrera, 34.
"I just felt a great sense of peace, enthusiasm and goodness for our country," she said.
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