World

Pope Gets Congressional Gold Medal

January 8, 2001 / 12:27 PM EST / AP

Pope John Paul II joined a select list which includes George Washington, Bob Hope, Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa when a delegation of U.S. senators and House members presented him Monday with the Congressional Gold Medal.

"May your influence be as strong in the 21st century as it was in the 20th century," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a ceremony in the frescoed, 17th-century Clementine Room in the Apostolic Palace as the pontiff, his head bowed and hands clasped, listened.

The legislation, approved in May, to award him the medal, hails the 80-year-old, ailing, Polish-born pontiff for using "his moral authority to hasten the fall of godless totalitarian regimes."

"Your strong words inspire one billion Catholics and impress people of various faiths throughout the world," Hastert, a Republican from Illinois, told the pope.

It is the highest civilian honor the Congress can award.

The medal, heavy enough to make a palm sink when it is placed on an outstretched hand, has an image of the pope on one side and the symbolic bald eagle on the other.

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, another Republican, said that John Paul's message of hope "urgently needs to be heard."

John Paul struck a modest note: "It is not for the successor of the apostle Peter to seek honors, but I gladly accept the Congressional Gold Medal as a recognition that in my ministry, there has echoed a word that can touch every human heart."

"I accept this award as a sign that you, as legislators, recognize the importance of defending human dignity without compromise, so that your nation may not fail to live up to its high responsibilities in a world where human rights are so often disregarded," the pontiff said.

After the pope greeted each delegate and gave out souvenir medals, he lingered for a group photo, then to chat a bit. As the pontiff returned to his private apartment, the Americans broke into a chorus of "bye-bye," a rather informal parting salutation by Vatican standards, provoking grins among observers.

Last year, Congress awarded the medal to Cardinal John O'Connor, the New York Roman Catholic leader who died in May.

Hastert was leading a delegation that was to head Tuesday to Kosovo to meet with U.S. peacekeepers and their commanders and then go on to Morocco for a meeting with that North African nation's king.

The U.S. delegation was staying in a Via Veneto hotel right across the street from the U.S. Embassy complex which was abruptly emptied Friday because of fears of a terrorist attack.

"We have full confidence in our security staff, and we weren't worried," Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, said later in the day.