    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [January 26, 1999]
    [Pages 106-107]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Pope
    John Paul II in St. Louis, Missouri
    January 26, 1999

        Your Holiness; Archbishop Rigali;
    Archbishop Montalvo; Governor
    Carnahan; Mayor Harmon; County Executive Westfall; Ambassador Boggs; Members of Congress; members of the Cabinet; our
    visitors from the Vatican; my fellow Americans:
        Your Holiness, on behalf of all of us gathered here today, indeed,
    on behalf of all the people of our beloved Nation, we welcome you back
    to America. Your return brings joy not only to the Catholic faithful but
    to every American who has heard your message of peace and charity toward
    all God's children. And we thank you for first going to Mexico and for
    reaching out to all the people of the Americas.
        We greet you, and we thank you. For 20 years, you have lifted our
    spirits and touched our hearts. For 20 years, you have challenged us to
    think of life not in terms of what we acquire for ourselves but in terms
    of what we give of ourselves.
        This is your 7th visit to the United States, your 85th visit abroad
    as the Bishop of Rome. Through it all, you have given of yourself with a
    boundless physical energy which can only find its source in limitless
    faith. You have come in the final year of a century that has seen much
    suffering but which ends with great hope for freedom and reconciliation.
    It is a moment anticipated by countless prayers, brought forward by
    countless hands, and shaped very much by you, Holy Father, and your 20-
    year pilgrimage.
        We honor you for helping to lead a revolution of values and spirit
    in central Europe and the former Soviet Union, freeing millions to live
    by conscience, not coercion, and freeing all of us from the constant
    fear of nuclear war. We honor you for standing for human dignity, human
    rights, and religious freedom and for helping people to find the courage
    to stand up for themselves, from Africa to Asia to the Western
    Hemisphere.
        We honor you for your work to bring peace to nations and peoples
    divided by old hatreds and suspicions, from Bosnia and Kosovo, to
    central Africa, to Indonesia, to the Middle East, even to our own
    communities. People still need to hear your message that all are God's
    children, all have fallen short of His glory, all the injustices of
    yesterday cannot excuse a single injustice today.
        Holy Father, we are moved by your desire to mark the new millennium
    with a journey to Jerusalem, to bring mercy and reconciliation to all
    those who believe in one God, in the holy place where all our faiths
    began.
        Your Holiness, we honor you, too, because you have never let those
    of us who enjoy the blessings of prosperity, freedom, and peace forget
    our responsibilities. On your last visit to the United States you called
    on us to build a society truly worthy of the human person, a society in
    which none are so poor they have nothing to give and none are so rich
    they have nothing to receive. Today you visit an America that is
    thriving but also striving, striving to include those who do not yet
    share in our prosperity at home and striving to put a human face on the
    global economy by advancing the dignity of work, the rights of women,
    the well-being of children, and the help of our common environment.
        You will see an America that is not simply living for today but
    working for future generations, an America working harder to be what you
    have asked us to be, an example of justice and civic virtues, freedom
    fulfilled, and goodness at home and abroad.
        The Catholic Church in America is helping all of us to realize that
    vision. Here in St. Louis, Catholic charities are helping families
    conquer violence and drug abuse, helping people in need to find work and
    to finance their first homes, helping refugees from war-torn lands to
    build

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    new lives, building housing for the elderly, including the new Pope John
    Paul II Apartments, and leading countless other efforts that lift our
    people's lives. All over our country, the Catholic faithful do this work
    for the sake of all Americans, and they are joined in their work by
    Americans of all faiths.
        Your Holiness, every American welcomes you and hopes that you will
    come to see us again. I am nowhere near as gifted a linguist as you are,
    Holy Father, but as they say in your native Poland: Sto lat i wiecej--
    may you live 100 years and more. And may you keep working and teaching
    and lighting the way, for all of us and all the world.
        Welcome to the United States.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:50 p.m. at the Missouri Air National
    Guard Hangar at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. In his remarks,
    he referred to Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis; Archbishop Gabriel
    Montalvo of the Holy See; Gov. Mel Carnahan of Missouri; Mayor Clarence
    Harmon of St. Louis; St. Louis County Executive George Westfall; and
    U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Corinne Claiborne (Lindy) Boggs. The
    transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included
    the remarks of Pope John Paul II.