(This article is adapted from a story that appeared in the April 17, 2008 edition of the Catholic Standard that chronicled Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Washington. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in Rome on Dec. 31, 2022 at the age of 95.)

An excited mixture of clapping, cheering, screaming and singing only became louder as Pope Benedict XVI walked toward about 130 Annunciation Catholic School students who waited in front of the Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican Embassy) on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., to wish the pope a happy 81st birthday on April 16, 2008.

Students sang “Happy Birthday” to him in English and in his native language, German, and held up a banner with a jumbo-size painting of the pope dressed in a green cassock and white miter. Along the sides and bottom of the painting, students had written

“Annunciation Catholic School wishes you a very happy birthday!”

Pope Benedict shook the hands of several students and congratulated Denyce Daniels, who was then the school’s music teacher and choir director, on the students’ singing performance. He said it was “Wonderful. In German and in English.”

The students waited anxiously inside a fenced-off area for more than an hour to get their big chance to sing to the pope.

For James Henkels, a student from St. Joseph’s School in Vancouver, Washington, meeting the pope was doubly exciting because he and the pope shared the same birthday. Henkels said that was a birthday he will never forget – he turned 11 and shook the pope’s hand.

“It was a one time experience ... a surprise birthday present,” he said.

Mina Grace, a fourth grader at Annunciation, said she was excited and shocked to shake the pope’s hand.

Grace and her classmates had been learning about the pope for several weeks, and she said that now she understands “the Catholic faith has true meaning in him.” 

Meeting the pope in person enabled the students to connect on a deeper level with the pope, said Marguerite Conley, then the principal of Annunciation School.

“They have read about him, learned about him, seen him in pictures, but now they see he is a real person, a person of faith,” she said.

Having the opportunity to do something so personal for the pope inspired the students, Conley added.

“It was beyond sitting or viewing, now there is this true spiritual connection,” she said, adding that many of her older students were brought to tears when they met the pope.

“They understand the importance of his visit to the United States,” she said.

Joan Griffin McCabe, then a fourth grade teacher at Annunciation, said meeting the pope was an honor.

“I know we have a special moment, because we represent all the teachers and students in Catholic schools,” she said.

Their time with the pontiff lasted for about five minutes, and then he was ushered into a black Cadillac limousine, and headed to a welcoming ceremony with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House.