    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [October 4, 1995]
    [Pages 1534-1535]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Welcoming Pope John Paul II in Newark, New Jersey
    October 4, 1995

        Archbishop McCarrick, Archbishop Cacciavillan, Cardinal Keeler,
    Father Theroux, the members of the Cabinet, the Members of the Congress,
    Governor Whitman, Mayor James, honored guests: Your Holiness, it is a
    great pleasure and an honor to welcome you back to the United States.
        You seemed to bring us the rain, but we need the rain, and we thank
    you for that. Your return has been greatly anticipated by the American
    people, and as you have gathered from the welcome of the children and
    the not-so-young, all Americans are very, very happy to see you.
        This is our third opportunity to visit. I look forward to our
    discussion, and I am grateful that your voice--for peace and hope and
    for the values that support every family and the family of humanity.
        On this, your fourth visit to our Nation, you will see an America
    striving to build on our ideals of peace and charity, justice and
    tolerance. When you visit the United Nations and you speak to the
    General Assembly, you will be retracing the steps of Pope Paul VI in his
    visit to the United States which began 30 years ago this day. He became
    the first Pontiff to visit our beloved country when he spoke to the
    United Nations in the name of peace.
        The Catholic faithful here in America have always taken an active
    role in making our country better. The Catholic Church helps the poor,
    the children, the elderly, the afflicted, and our families. You will see
    their handiwork here in the city of Newark and throughout your visit.
    The Church has given life to the idea that in the human community we all
    have obligations to one another. This idea is rooted in Church
    institutions, including thousands of charitable activities, the Catholic
    Charities, the Campaign for Human Development, the network of Catholic
    hospitals, and other agencies that help all Americans, and of course, it
    is rooted in the 9,000 Catholic elementary and high schools, and more
    than 200 Catholic colleges here in the United States. And they too,
    thankfully, serve all Americans.
        As distinct as Catholicism is, it shares something with many other
    faiths in our Nation, the unshakable values that are at the core of our
    society that hold us together as a country. We Americans are a people of
    faith, expressed in many ways. With the most diverse population on
    Earth, our Nation counts more religions than any other, more than 1,500,
    and more places of worship than any other. Indeed, even as we gather
    here now, many of our fellow citizens are in their synagogues fasting
    and observing the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, the
    day of atonement.
        Our great American poet, Walt Whitman, who I know is a favorite of
    yours, once wrote about America, ``The real and permanent grandeur of
    these States must be their religion. Otherwise, there is no real and
    permanent grandeur.'' That is the America that awaits you and your
    visit, Your Holiness. Our faith matters to us as individuals and as
    families. Our faith supports our families, strengthens them, and keeps
    them together.
        Your Holiness, you have written and spoken so eloquently of family
    rights, and women and men everywhere welcomed your recent open letter on
    the dignity and rights of women. The First Lady and I thank you,
    especially, for the words of support from the Holy See regarding her
    speech on the rights of families, women, and their children, at the
    recent conference on

    [[Page 1535]]

    women in Beijing, China. Your words supported the statement she made on
    behalf of all Americans, that if women are healthy and educated, free
    from violence, if they have a chance to work and earn as full and equal
    partners, their families will flourish. And when families flourish,
    communities and nations will flourish.
        We know that if we value our families, as we must, public policy
    must also support them. It must see to it that children live free of
    poverty with the opportunity of a good and decent education. If we value
    our families, we must let them know the dignity of work with decent
    wages. If we value our families, we must care for them across the
    generations from the oldest to the youngest.
        Your Holiness, it is most fitting that you have arrived to be with
    us today on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the champion of the
    poor, the defender of the defenseless. His prayer, carried to this day
    in the pockets, the purses, the billfolds of many American Catholics,
    and revered by many who are not Catholics, is a simple clarion to unity.
    It begins: ``Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is
    hatred, let me so love.'' Today, these words hold special meaning for
    us, for with God's help, we recently celebrated the advance of peace in
    the Middle East, and we are trying, earnestly, with your support, to
    knock on the door of peace in Bosnia.
        We see peace advancing in Northern Ireland, in Haiti, in Southern
    Africa. All this has been an answer to many, many prayers around the
    world, but many of them were led by you, Holy Father, and for that, you
    have the gratitude of all the American people.
        On the threshold of a new millennium, more than ever, we need your
    message of faith and family, community and peace. That is what we must
    work toward for millions of reasons, as many reasons as there are
    children on this Earth.
        It has been said that you can see the future by looking into the
    eyes of a child. Well, we are joined here today by 2,000 children from
    the Archdiocese of Newark and surrounding parishes. Your Holiness,
    looking out at them now and into their eyes, we can see that the future
    is very bright indeed. For them and for all Americans, we thank you,
    Holy Father, for coming back to the United States, and we welcome you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:35 p.m. at Newark International Airport.
    In his remarks, he referred to Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop
    of Newark; Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, Apostolic Pronuncio to the
    United States; William Cardinal Keeler, president, National Conference
    of Bishops; Father Paul Theroux, national coordinator for the Papal
    visit; Gov. Christine T. Whitman of New Jersey; and Mayor Sharpe James
    of Newark.