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WASHINGTON – Morning commuters found themselves surrounded on subway trains by a peculiar weekday morning sight – thousands of people climbing aboard as early as 5 a.m. to attend a Mass at Nationals Park celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

WASHINGTON – The tumultuous applause that greeted Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of the April 17 Mass in Nationals Park was indicative of the excitement of the faithful at attending the first public U.S. Mass celebrated by the pope, who is concluding his third year as pontiff.

WASHINGTON – Celebrating Mass in a Washington baseball stadium, Pope Benedict XVI urged U.S. Catholics to renew their missionary energy at a time when American society is at a moral crossroads.

WASHINGTON – At the end of his remarks to the U.S. bishops April 16, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged “the immense suffering endured by the people of God” in the New Orleans Archdiocese because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

WASHINGTON – Before Pope Benedict XVI headed to a prayer service with the U.S. bishops April 16, he had a series of brief encounters with an extremely small group of people both inside the Vatican nunciature and outside it.

WASHINGTON – For the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush was a proud day for Americans.

WASHINGTON – An excited mixture of clapping, cheering, screaming and singing only became louder as Pope Benedict XVI walked toward about 130 students who waited in front of the Vatican Embassy to wish the pope a happy 81st birthday April 16.

WASHINGTON – Here is the text of the remarks by Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to Pope Benedict XVI on behalf of the bishops at their meeting at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception April 16.

WASHINGTON – One of the “countersigns to the Gospel of life” in the United States is the sexual abuse of minors, a situation “that causes deep shame,” Pope Benedict XVI told about 300 U.S. bishops gathered April 16 in the crypt church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

WASHINGTON – Even some of the bishops were in the standing-room sections on the South Lawn of the White House waiting for Pope Benedict XVI to arrive.