Pope Benedict XVI celebrates first papal mass in New York cathedral

NEW YORK (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on the third anniversary of his pontificate Saturday became the first leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics to celebrate mass in St Patrick's cathedral in New York.

Members of the Roman Catholic clergy rose from the pews and leaned over barriers to kiss the pope's ring as he walked slowly down the central aisle of the cathedral to the altar.

A crowd of hundreds pressing against metal barriers outside the 150-year-old cathedral had erupted in a cheer as Benedict descended from a black stretch limousine on Fifth Avenue minutes earlier and climbed the few steps to the entrance of the church.

There, beneath the Gothic spires, he was welcomed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, before turning to raise both hands in greeting to the cheering crowd.

The mayor had told the hundreds of members of the clergy and religious orders inside the cathedral that, only in New York, "which has long stood as a beacon of tolerance ... could a middle-class kid named Bloomberg grow up and be asked to welcome the pope."

Bloomberg is Jewish, a community to which Benedict has made a special effort to reach out to during his six-day US visit, holding private meetings with Jewish leaders and becoming the first pope to set foot in a synagogue on US soil.

A choir sang and the congregation rose and applauded as the pope entered the cathedral, walking down the center aisle toward the altar, bathed in sunlight streaming in through stained glass windows.

Benedict is on the penultimate day of his US visit, his first since he was elected pope three years ago.

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