5,000 children to greet the Pope in Valletta
No different levels of security
Five thousand pre-teens will fill St George's Square in Valletta to greet Pope Benedict XVI when he comes out on the Grand Master's Palace balcony on Saturday.
Wearing white or yellow bandanas, the children, aged between eight and 12, will be accompanied by a 500-strong choir, that will sing Happy Birthday to the Pope, who turns 83 tomorrow. The choir, which has been practising for six weeks, holds its final rehearsal tonight.
According to the organisers, only children and helpers, will be allowed inside the enclosed area.
Parents are being urged not to collect children from Valletta but from designated pick-up points.
Pope Benedict is expected to arrive in Valletta at 6.15 p.m. and will drive into the Palace courtyard on a Popemobile, before heading upstairs where he will have a meeting with President George Abela.
He will also meet Speaker Louis Galea, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat and Cabinet members before going out onto the balcony to greet the children. He will also meet parliamentarians in the Tapestry Room, where Parliament used to meet in the past.
Elizabeth Pisani, the Archbishop's delegate for children, said places for children had been filled and no more could be accepted.
Charles Bonello, who heads the organising committee, said there would be four health centre points, apart from the police and Civil Protection Department personnel, in the area. Volunteers from St John's Rescue, St John's Ambulance, Red Cross and paramedics, will also be in attendance.
Asked why parliamentarians would need accreditation to enter the Palace to meet Pope Benedict, Mr Bonello said the committee had decided months ago that anyone who entered a restricted area required accreditation.
"We cannot have different levels of security in different places. Accreditation is a means of security," he said, adding that even Archbishop Paul Cremona had accreditation.
Over 5,000 accreditation cards are being issued, with only 1,000 of them being for guests. The rest are for people who are giving a service.