Some 4,000 people came to the airport April 20 to see him off, including U.S. Vice-president Richard Cheney. The Pope thanked the American people, adding that “It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community here.”

The Pope said he was most affected by his visit to Ground Zero, marking the spot where the two towers of the World Trade Centre crumbled to the ground after being struck by terrorist-directed passenger planes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing almost 2,800 people. He prayed for the dead and their loved ones, and met individually with 24 people who had either been on the scene or lost family members.

“My visit this morning to Ground Zero will remain firmly etched in my memory, as I continue to pray for those who died and for all who are suffering in consequence of the tragedy that occurred there in 2001,” he said.

The Pope was also pleased that he was able to deliver a speech on human rights at the United Nations General Assembly. In his talk he argued that human rights cannot be divorced from the religious dimension of human nature.

Pope Benedict arrived in Washington April 15. Over six days, he met with U.S. President George Bush, the U.S. bishops, Catholic education leaders, representatives of other Christian religions, youth, the disabled, Jewish leaders and the diplomats and staff at the UN.

He also celebrated two open air Masses. The first at Nationals Stadium in Washington April 17, drew 46,000 people on a bright, warm day. The second at Yankee Stadium April 20 drew almost 60,000. In both cases, the crowds cheered the Pope loudly, waving yellow and white cloths (the papal colours) and applauding him warmly.

He also celebrated Mass with some 3,000 priests and religious sisters and brothers at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on April 19. He received two standing ovations and warm cheers, prompting one of his only unscripted remarks of the trip when he thanked those in attendance for their loyalty and affection.

Wherever he went, the streets were lined with people eager to catch a glimpse of him going by in his white popemobile. Some came from hundreds of kilometres away, without tickets for events, just to see him for a second or two.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec, saw first hand the enthusiasm of Americans for this Pope. He was present for the UN speech, two Masses, a youth rally and a private luncheon with the Pope.

“They have a great faith in the Pope — be it John Paul or Benedict — they have great faith in the Pope,” he told The Catholic Register.

He was also encouraged by the excitement in the streets.

“I admire these people,” he said. “They were young and old people, who have been travelling far, just to come to see the Pope on the street for a moment.”

But overshadowing the trip was the open wound of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The scandal broke in 2002 in Boston and soon spread across the United States as more reports of sexual abuse by clergy, many going back decades, were revealed. So far U.S. dioceses and Catholic institutions have paid out about $2 billion in damages to thousands of victims. Some five dioceses have gone bankrupt.

Outside different sites for papal events, protesters waved placards and yelled out slogans condemning priests, bishops, even the Pope for the crimes.

Anticipating that the issue would arise, Pope Benedict addressed it several times. Even on the flight from Rome, he answered a reporter’s question about the crisis by saying he was “deeply shamed” and that he would do everything possible to protect the vulnerable.

Then, in his first speech to the American bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on April 17, he talked about the damage done and the efforts being made to heal the wounds and achieve justice.

The next day, during his homily at the Mass at Nationals Stadium, he said, “No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. . . Nor can I adequately describe the damage that has occurred within the community of the church.”

He returned to the theme again at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Mass. However, his private visit with six victims of sexual abuse from Boston drew the most attention. During a 25-minute session at the papal nuncio’s residence in Washington, he met the victims, listened to their personal accounts and prayed with them.

While the victims he met praised the Pope and said the meeting had helped promote healing, some representatives of victims’ groups still said the Pope had not gone far enough. They called for the firing of bishops who had known about the abuse but failed to take action.

But the theme of the visit was “Christ our Hope,” and Benedict used every occasion to urge Catholics and others to place their trust in Jesus Christ.

In his homilies he urged Catholics to pray more, go to the sacrament of Reconciliation, be faithful to their church and stand up for a morality in line with Catholic teaching. He also urged them to continue to practise the virtues of charity and work with the rest of society to build up the common good.

In his speech to the United Nations, he defended religious freedom, saying it “should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one’s rights.”

But, in his appreciation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, celebrating its 60th anniversary, he laid a foundation for all rights based on a notion of the human person as being made in the image of God. He said the natural law — “inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations” — gave all nations common ground for agreeing on the nature of rights.

He warned that divorcing rights from this foundation would lead to their abuse and exploitation, either by a secular society that disdains the religious perspective, or by states dominated by one religion.

The Pope went on to urge the UN to develop the “responsibility to protect” principle to intervene more forcefully when individual nations, either in wartime or natural disasters, fail to protect the safety and well-being of their citizens.

Cardinal Ouellet praised the dense speech, saying it deserved several readings and reflection. He hoped it would push the UN to reflect more deeply on its role in protecting human rights.

For President Bush, the Pope called for compassion in dealing with immigrants. A fierce debate has been unfolding in the United States as it grapples with the wave of immigrants from Hispanic nations. In a private meeting, the two discussed the “need for a co-ordinated policy regarding immigration, especially their humane treatment and the well-being of their families,” according to a statement from the White House April 16.

For all, the Pope had both encouragement and pointed reminders. For Catholic universities, he praised academic freedom, but said it had its limits — scholars could not hide behind academic freedom to contradict church teaching. For those engaged in ecumenical dialogue, he called on them to unite in Christ and based their dialogues solidly in Scripture and sound doctrine. For all Catholics, he recognized their struggle to remain faithful Christians in a modern world with its distractions, but he urged them to remain obedient to the church build up their prayer lives.

For youth, he urged them to trust in Christ and set their goals high. In particular, he asked them to consider religious vocations.

Through it all, however, Pope Benedict tied his message to Christ.

“Let us turn to Jesus,” he said. “He alone is the way that leads to eternal happiness, the truth who satisfied the deepest longings of every heart, and the life who brings ever new joy and hope to us and to our world,” he said at Yankee Stadium.