Some Fear for Pope and His America Visit

The New York Sun reports on mounting fears in regard to the safety of Pope Benedict XVI and those around him on his visit to America next month, aggravated by Osama bin Laden’s accusation of the Pope’s “new Crusade.”

“When I heard the thing about bin Laden, I thought, this isn’t good,” Father Robert O’Connor of the Blessed Sacrament Church on the Upper West Side said. “It could stir up some wacko who wants to get attention.”

Spokesmen for the police department and the United States Secret Service, the two agencies that will be spearheading what is expected to be an enormous security operation when the pope arrives in the city April 18, wouldn’t say directly whether Mr. bin Laden’s message raised any red flags regarding security and the pope’s upcoming visit.