Prayers mix with protests as pope motorcade passes

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Songs and prayers of the faithful mixed with shouts of "Antichrist!" on Wednesday as Pope Benedict's motorcade crawled through the streets of Washington.

Several thousand Roman Catholics from across the United States, dancing and shaking tambourines, waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the pope as he left the White House after meeting with President George W. Bush.

"It was in my heart so strong to see the pope, to try to get a blessing," said Carolyn Ehli of Moore, Oklahoma, who clutched a large portrait of the Virgin Mary as she maneuvered her wheelchair to a better viewing spot.

Not everyone came to welcome the pontiff. Roving bullhorn-toting Protestant fundamentalists warned Catholics would end up in hell, while others carried signs that accused the Church of harboring pedophiles.

Ontario native Axel Poessy said Bush should arrest Benedict for child abuse, not welcome him to the White House. She said priests' vows of celibacy led them to prey on children.

"If you abstain from having sex, you're activating your body to want it more," Poessy said.

As Bush and the pope met at the White House, 200 protesters demonstrated nearby over the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Church, of which the pope said he was "deeply ashamed."

They held up banners reading "Catholic priests are pedophiles" and "100,000 sexually abused kids in the U.S."