After a dramatic three days in which he put America's clergy sexual abuse scandal front and center, Pope Benedict XVI turned his attention Friday to the original purpose of his first U.S. visit as leader of the Roman Catholic Church a speech at the United Nations.
Traveling in from Washington on an early morning flight, the pope was greeted by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and was to address the General Assembly a few minutes later.
Hundreds of people had gathered at a plaza outside the U.N., some brought banners saying "Wilkomen Pope Benedict XVI." One added the words "You Rock!"
The U.N. setting contrasted dramatically with the intimacy of a meeting Thursday, at which Benedict prayed with weeping victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests.
When Benedict speaks to diplomats from around the world, he'll likely touch on several broad themes, said Jo Renee Formicola, a Seton Hall University political science professor who has studied the papacy and international affairs.
Among them: a call for bedrock ethical and moral principles as a guiding force even in pluralistic societies, a human rights agenda that encompasses religious freedom and the sacredness of human life and the responsibility of first-world nations to aid developing ones.
The pope will encourage the notion that individuals and states can rise above their own self interests and pursue the common good, Formicola said.
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