Organizers preparing for Pope Benedict’s visit

The pope will turn 81 Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI’s three days in New York pose logistical challenges beyond making sure that he’s safe. Among other things, organizers had to widen some footpaths for the popemobile, figure out how to distribute Holy Communion to 57,000 people and teach schoolkids to sing “Happy Birthday” in German.

They also had to promise to keep the pope and everybody else off the grass at Yankee Stadium.

“The Yankees had only one request, and that is that we not touch their grass,” said Mark Ackermann, who is running the Office of the Papal Visit for the New York Archdiocese. “The All-Star game will be there this year, and of course we’re all confident that the World Series will be there as well.”

Benedict arrives in Washington on Tuesday, his first visit as pope to the United States. He’ll visit the White House, celebrate Mass at Nationals Park and address the nation’s bishops about the importance of Catholic education. His 81st birthday falls on Wednesday.

The pope comes to New York next Friday. Besides the Yankee Stadium Mass, the pontiff’s schedule includes another Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a speech at the United Nations, a visit to ground zero and a rally for more than 22,000 young people. His third anniversary as pope falls on April 19.

In both cities, Benedict will be tightly guarded by agents from the Secret Service, local police forces and the bodyguards he brings from Vatican City.

New York police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, noting that Osama bin Laden has recently criticized the pope, said his force will be using vehicle checkpoints, helicopters, boats, divers, dogs, horses and radiation detectors besides the “highly visible” uniformed presence of thousands of officers. At times, flight restrictions will be in effect overhead.

Security is considerably tighter than for the previous papal visit, by John Paul II in 1995. Benedict’s secured, see-through popemobile is supposed to stay closed throughout, and a repeat of John Paul’s block-long stroll in Manhattan seems unlikely.

“Obviously the world has changed,” Kelly said. “It’s a post 9/11 event.”

For the people lucky enough to get tickets to public events — nearly half a million applied in both cities — security means arriving hours before the pope does. Bar-coded tickets will be scanned, identities will be checked against a huge manifest and attendees will walk through metal detectors.

But there will be plenty going on for the early arrivals.

Entertainers including Kelly Clarkson, Jose Feliciano and the Irish tenor Ronan Tynan have been booked, and Harry Connick Jr. has written an original work in the pope’s honor to be performed at Yankee Stadium.