Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an exuberant, rolling birthday party yesterday with American Roman Catholics and political leaders on his first trip to the US since his papacy began three years ago, Gerard Baker writes.

Tens of thousands of America’s Catholic faithful, curious onlookers and the occasional protester packed city streets and hung from balconies in Washington to catch a glimpse of the bulletproof Popemobile as the pontiff travelled from the White House to the papal residence.

The first full day of the Pope’s visit was also his 81st birthday and all along the route crowds burst into renditions of Happy Birthday to You.

The capital’s streets were decorated in the yellow and white of the Vatican’s colours and papal banners hung from lampposts as the Pope’s motorcade glided gently past spectators.

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• A commitment to keep faith in the public space

It was an auspicious start for the pontiff on what was expected to be an important visit to the country that is home to the second-largest number of Catholics in the world.

The US Church has been racked by falling Mass attendance and financial and other difficulties in recent years, most notably the sexual abuse scandal that has resulted in the removal of a large number of clergy from the ministry. There are more than 60 million baptised Catholics in the US and the Pope’s visit is designed to energise and revitalise the country’s Catholic congregation.

Though generally viewed as less charismatic than his predecessor, Benedict is generating a high level of excitement on his US trip. John Paul II made five visits here during his 26-year papacy and was greeted everywhere like a rock star.

When Benedict was elected, he had a reputation as a dour enforcer of Church doctrine who would struggle to match the global appeal of the man he followed. But on his first trip to the world’s most media-conscious country, the Pope has demonstrated a deft touch and a capacity to engage with the faithful.

Julie Parsley, who converted to Catholicism eight years ago, said that she had taken her two sons, John and Greg, out of school to go to see the Pope. “This is as close as you get to God and Jesus,” she said.

Hilda Martinez, visiting from Los Angeles, remembered seeing John Paul II on one of his visits. She recalled that he was a charismatic figure and said that Benedict had “big shoes to fill”. But she felt that it was “unfair to compare the two”.

Earlier, President Bush formally greeted Benedict at the White House, only the second time that the world’s most influential spiritual leader has crossed the threshold of the residence of the world’s most powerful man.

More than 9,000 people gathered on the South Lawn in brilliant sunshine to hear the pontiff and the President exchange warm words. It was said by officials to be the largest crowd assembled in the White House grounds since Mr Bush came to office and included most of the leadership of the Church in the US, prominent American lay Catholics as well as the nation’s political leaders. The beaming Pope emerged from a limousine bedecked in the flags of the US and the Holy See, and greeted not only the President but also the senior figures in the presidential succession: Vice-President Dick Cheney, and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, third in line to the presidency and herself a Catholic.

After the band played the anthems Mr Bush extended a welcome — and more birthday greetings — to the Pope on behalf of all Americans. Despite their differences over the Iraq war, the death penalty and environmental protection, the Pope and the President share a belief in the universality of moral laws and both insist that the pursuit of human liberty is one of those obligations.

Mr Bush echoed a phrase that Benedict has used in his papacy — “the dictatorship of relativism” — and promised that he would find a reliable ally in the US in his efforts to promote universal human values. “We need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth,” he said.

Presidents have often found themselves in trouble when attempting to speak in foreign tongues in the presence of world leaders and, given Mr Bush’s famed infelicity with words, he seemed to be taking a particular risk when he began by introducing a quotation from St Augustine. But, even in a Texan twang, “Pax Tecum — Peace be with you”, seemed perfectly comprehensible and even appropriate, although it was slightly at odds with the booms of a 21-gun salute, standard fare for a visiting head of state.

In his remarks Benedict expressed his admiration for America’s spirit of liberty and its strong religious traditions. He noted that: “From the dawn of the republic, America’s quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator.” He closed by offering a crowd-pleasing prayer: “God bless America!”

Mr Bush leapt from his seat to congratulate his guest, perhaps more informally than protocol allows. The microphones of NBC television picked up his words: “Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech,” Mr Bush said. “We’re gonna sit down for one more song.”

After yet another impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday to You, the soprano Kathleen Battle sang The Lord’s Prayer — a scheduling decision that had earlier provoked a bout of questioning from members of the press who wondered whether this might breach America’s rigid separation of Church and State. Officials pointed out that having a man in a white cassock with a big cross round his neck talking about God at the White House had probably already breached that constitutional propriety.

So far on this trip the Pope has gone farther than before to express regret over sexual abuse scandals. Last night, at a meeting with US Catholic bishops, he again voiced his “deep shame” and acknowledged that the Church had handled the issue “very badly”.

“It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged,” he told the bishops.

The Pope is in Washington until Friday, when he travels to New York to address the United Nations. While in Manhattan he will visit Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Centre destroyed in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Benedict will meet relatives of some of the victims there and offer prayers. He will also celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium.

The reaction of crowds yesterday in Washington suggested that affection for the pontiff is high, even among non-Catholics. People ran down the pavements, following the Pope as he passed. Crowds lingered for 20 minutes after the Pope had gone, excitedly discussing what they had seen.

Not everyone was impressed, however. Along the popemobile’s route yesterday small knots of protesters gathered to object to Benedict’s visit. Many were protesting against the Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandals. But others, clearly, had more fundamental objections: “Repent of your Catholicism” read one banner.

Additional reporting: Matt Spence

Awesome speech

— President Bush’s “awesome” remark to Pope Benedict was the latest indiscretion to be overheard worldwide:

— At a summit in St Petersburg in 2006, the microphones picked up Mr Bush addressing Tony Blair with: “Yo, Blair. How’re you doin'?”

— In the same exchange, Mr Bush gave this assessment of the Middle East peace process: “The thing is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over.”

— Meeting the Queen on the White House lawn in May 2007, he momentarily added hundreds of years to her age: “The American people are proud to welcome Your Majesty back to the United States, a nation you've come to know very well ... You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 — in 1976.”