Young Throng Revs Spirits To Greet Pope

ST. LOUIS - By 4:56 p.m. Tuesday, the arena where the St. Louis Blues play hockey seemed loud enough to drown out a few thousand jet engines. But this was no sporting event.

As an all-day party neared its crescendo, 20,000 arm-waving, hip-shaking, foot-stomping young Catholics jammed to the ear-busting lyrics of dc Talk, a superstar contemporary Christian rock group.

"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus Freak?" the group sang, as the beat of drums and the strum of electric guitars reverberated throughout the Kiel Center.

Amid a gigantic kaleidoscope of flashing cameras, fluorescent crosses and "JP II, We Love You" banners, it appeared this place couldn't get any noiser.

Then again, that was just the warm-up act.

The main attraction on this night was a white-haired, 78-year-old man with a hunched-over neck - a solemn-looking fellow dressed in white with a gold cross hanging over his heart.

If it was loud before, the decibel level exploded at 6:36 p.m. That's when Pope John Paul II rode onto the arena floor.

"Your warm and appreciative welcome makes me very happy," John Paul told the crowd of faded-jean teen-agers and traditionally attired nuns. "It tells me that tonight the pope belongs to you."

The crowd, which included four Oklahoma City area high school buddies, showed its approval with another thunderous ovation and repeated chants of "John Paul II, We Love You!"

Bishop McGuinness juniors Mark Minden and Ryan Murray, Yukon junior Matt Housh and Putnam City North junior Mike Grafton were among the young people who packed the arena to see the pope. Tickets were extremely scarce, but Minden's brother Phil, a St. Louis resident, was able to get some.

The Oklahoma teens didn't know where their seats would be - but to their delight, they were on the arena floor.

"Oh, it was so awesome. I could have reached out and touched him, that's how close he was," Mark Minden said of the pope.

Grafton said the experience was unbelievable.

"I mean, it was probably the greatest experience of my entire life," he said.

Just moments after meeting St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire backstage, the leader of the world's 600 million Catholics urged young people to match the excitement generated by last season's home-run chase between McGwire and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa.

"You can feel the same enthusiasm as you train for a different goal: the goal of following Christ, the goal of bringing his message to the world," John Paul said, as thousands who could not get tickets inside the arena watched on giant video screens outside the arena.

The pope's appearance at the "Light of the World" youth rally capped a festive day that started with a morning youth walk from the Gateway Arch grounds down Market Street.

In a concession line minutes before John Paul's arrival, Sarah VanWinkel and her friends couldn't quit grooving.

"It's really awesome," the St. Louis resident, 15, said between bites of blue cotton candy. "It's probably like a chance of a lifetime because some people aren't going to be able to see the pope again.

Nichole Bartella, 16, and 89 other teen-agers from Minnesota were already in the spirit. They left home at 3 a.m. Sunday and arrived in St. Louis at 6 a.m. Monday - 27 hours later.

In exchange for their youth rally tickets, they agreed to volunteer at this morning's Mass at the Trans World Dome.

Their scheduled arrival time: 2 a.m.

About 100,000 people, including several hundred Oklahomans, have tickets for the papal Mass, which organizers claim will be the largest indoor gathering in U.S. history.

"It's definitely worth it," said Bartella, who like the others in her group wore a blue, long-sleeved T-shirt featuring John Paul holding a crucifix. "It's just incredible having this many Christians in one place."

After a four-day trip to Mexico, John Paul arrived Tuesday afternoon at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. As an airplane roared overhead in a cloudless blue sky, the slightly bent pope stepped off his Boeing 757 just after 1:20 p.m.

Accompanied by St. Louis Archbishop Justin Rigali, John Paul slowly made his way into the Missouri Air National Guard hangar, where 2,400 invited guests, including President and first lady Hillary Clinton, waited to greet him.

In his remarks to the crowd, which included 500 Catholic families and many clergy and dignitaries, the pope alluded to abortion and the death penalty as he called on America to resist the "culture of death."

The United States faces a time of trial not unlike the days of slavery, he said.

"Today, the conflict is between a nation that affirms, cherishes and celebrates the gift of life, and a culture that seeks to declare entire groups of human beings... to be outside the boundaries of legal protection," he said.

After his remarks, the pope and Clinton met privately for about 20 minutes to discuss world issues.

The president's welcoming remarks honored the pope's contributions to peace and justice.

"We honor you, too, because you have never let those of us who enjoy the blessings of prosperity, freedom and peace forget our responsibilities," said Clinton, a Southern Baptist.

The president and the pontiff avoided controversial topics such as U.S. air strikes against Iraq, the Cuban embargo, abortion and capital punishment.

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