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[h=4]Pope Francis and city of Washington embrace each other on historic visit[/h]WASHINGTON<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— Pope Francis waved to a cheering crowd, embraced children and basked in the pageantry of a city that essentially shut down to welcome him Wednesday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
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President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House during the first full day of the pontiff's first trip to the United States. VPC
Pope Francis greets people from the Popemobile on Constitution Avenue after meeting with President Obama at the White House on Sept. 23, 2015.(Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo, European Pressphoto Agency)
WASHINGTON<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— Pope Francis waved to a cheering crowd, embraced children and basked in the pageantry of a city that essentially shut down to welcome him Wednesday.
After a White House welcome ceremony with a crowd of thousands, rows of dignitaries and hint of politics, the pope stood in a glass booth mounted on a white<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jeep for a short parade<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the roads around the White House. He did not get out of the vehicle during the 15-minute tour, but guards brought two children from the crowd to him for an embrace.
The center of the city was closed to traffic and heavily fortified by security, but thousands of people pressed to the barricades and cheered the pontiff.
Earlier, the pope took the podium before<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a teeming crowd of politicians, luminaries and ordinary citizens at the White House and endorsed President Obama's efforts to cut air pollution and combat climate change.
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Thousands line the street around the White House to see Pope Francis. The pontiff stops at one point to kiss a baby. (Sept. 23) AP
Obama used his welcome of the pope to also make note of the pontiff's views on climate change.<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Holy Father, you remind us that we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet – God’s<span style="color: Red;">*</span>magnificent gift to us," Obama said. "We support your call to all world leaders to support the communities most vulnerable<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to a changing climate and to come together to preserve our precious world for future generations"
This issue is a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flashpoint of conflict between Obama and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republicans in Congress, who have warned that Obama's plans could do lasting economic harm to the nation with little environmental benefit.
USA TODAY
Obama unveils blueprint to cut greenhouse gases
One lawmaker said last week that he would not attend the pope's Thursday speech in Congress because the pontiff is choosing to focus on climate change instead of issues like religious freedom and abortion.
While Congress has been battling for weeks weeks over federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the pope made no mention of abortion in his White House remarks.
At a prayer ceremony later at St. Matthews cathedral, the pope did touch on abortion, but only briefly, and mixed with other wrongs he said the church must stand against. "The innocent victim of abortion, children who die of hunger or from bombings, immigrants who drown in the search for a better tomorrow, the elderly or the sick who are considered a burden, the victims of terrorism, wars, violence and drug trafficking, the environment devastated by man’s predatory relationship with nature – at stake in all of this is the gift of God, of which we are noble stewards but not masters," Pope Francis said. "It is wrong, then, to look the other way or to remain silent."
After the White House ceremony, the two leaders held a brief meeting in the Oval Office. Obama gave Francis a sculpture of an ascending dove and a key from the Maryland home of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American to be declared a saint.
Obama is the 11th consecutive president to meet with a pope, going back to Dwight Eisenhower’s meeting with Pope John XXIII on Dec. 6, 1959. But Pope Francis' trip is the first papal visit to Washington since 2008.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Thousands of guests<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gathered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the South Lawn of the White House for the papal welcome ceremony. Crowds began lining up around the White House complex well before 4 a.m. for the 9 a.m. ceremony.
USA TODAY
Once shunned, papal meetings with American presidents now the norm
About 11,000 people had tickets to the event on the White House grounds and thousands more gathered outside the barriers to watch.
The House and Senate are out of session Wednesday in recognition of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, but across the U.S. Capitol complex, staff are scrambling to prepare for Thursday's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>first-ever papal speech to a joint session of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Congress.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Many lawmakers set off early<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to join the crowds at the White House.
USA TODAY
Members of Congress respond to Pope's visit
At the midday prayer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with about 300 U.S. bishops at St. Matthew's, Pope Francis discussed the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, saying that he understands the challenge the clergy faces<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in regaining<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the trust of the faithful. "We have to hope that such crimes will never repeat themselves," he said.
The event at St. Matthew's was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>closed to the public. But Sharon Savinski, a native Washingtonian, is one of 50 lucky parishioners to have tickets for a spot outside. She said she is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>thrilled to get a closeup of Francis. "He is just an example of goodness <span style="color: Red;">*</span>He brings joy to life," she says.
Asked what she would say to the pope if she had a chance to meet him, Savinski leaned back and closed her eyes "I would thank him for his humanity," she said.
Later in the afternoon the pope celebrates<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a new saint with a canonization Mass for the Spanish missionary priest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Junipero Serra at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
USA TODAY
Where is Pope Francis? A schedule of his U.S. visit
USA TODAY
Papal visit to bring blizzard of traffic to D.C., New York and Philadelphia
The federal government remains open during the pope's visit, but with much of the city on lockdown, federal employees in the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>area have been strongly encouraged to work from home or to take days off.
Two and a half years into a papacy made possible by the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Francis has become wildly popular in the United States as his message of mercy has softened some of the church's more traditional doctrines on sin and salvation. Eighty-six percent of Catholics and 65% of non-Catholics view him favorably, according to a Washington Post-CNN poll last week, and he's popular with liberals and conservatives alike.
Contributing: Susan Miller
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