Posted on 08/18/2005 4:51:40 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
POPE Benedict XVI was no more than a white speck to most of the tens of thousands of young Catholics who lined the banks of the Rhine today, but most went away happy.
"I will never forget this day, it was an awesome experience. He seemed so full of joy as he waved to us," said Colleen Ackerman, 25, from Cape Town. For Colleen and most of the crowd, it was their first view of a pope in the flesh and the man greeting them from the upper deck of the river cruiser did not disappoint.
"We feel blessed that we were able to be here to see this," said her friend Teresa Lawrence, 26, also from Cape Town.
Benedict's tour up the river to coincide with the World Youth Day jamboree was the highest profile appearance of the new pope since his inauguration in April following the death of his predecessor John Paul II.
Hours before he stepped onto the boat at the start of a four-day visit, there was hardly any space for several kilometres along the banks of the Rhine.
Escorted by three police launches, the boat pulled into the wide expanse of the Rhine for the short journey to the opposing bank where he was to address the faithful and the crowd began chanting his name.
As the boat, decorated with flowers and studded with a mass of flags, reached the point where the crowd was at its greatest the pope raised both arms in greeting to roars of delight from the young pilgrims.
After delivering a message in line with his reputation as a conservative hardliner, telling the crowd they would find true happiness only in God, the boat sailed slowly down the river.
After briefly sitting to bless pilgrims on board, the 78-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church stood again to salute the faithful in front of a wooden cross that had been hastily repaired after a gusting wind blew it down and broke it.
It was the second mishap on Benedict's first day back in his homeland as pope. Earlier, as he stepped from the Alitalia plane which brought him from Rome, the breeze whipped away his skull-cap and he was forced to continue without it.
As the boat trip went on, it seemed that the cheering got louder and the pope's smile grew wider as hundreds of pilgrims waded into the water to get a closer look.
But for many of the youngsters, he was far away across the broad expanse of the Rhine.
"He looked small to us because he was a long way away. But what was fantastic was the reaction of the crowd as he passed. And we had great fun waiting for him - that is what I will remember," said Quentin Barriere, 18, from Versailles near Paris.
Yes, but did a moistened bint lob a scimitar at him ?
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