Pontiff Prays With Sex Abuse Victims

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Pope Addresses Sexual Abuse by Priests

Pope Benedict XVI told a massive crowd in Washington that 'great efforts' have been made to deal honestly and fairly with the sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic church.

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At Catholic University in Northeast Washington, the pope warned educators yesterday against a betrayal of their purpose. He told them that "any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission."

At the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, Benedict addressed 200 leaders of five other faiths, saying: "In our attempt to discover points of commonality, perhaps we have shied away from the responsibility to discuss our differences with calmness and clarity. While always uniting our hearts and minds in the call for peace, we must also listen attentively to the voice of truth."

The pope also offered Passover greetings to members of the Jewish community "in a spirit of openness to the real possibilities of cooperation which we see before us as we contemplate the urgent needs of our world and as we look with compassion upon the sufferings of millions of our brothers and sisters everywhere. Naturally, our shared hope for peace in the world embraces the Middle East and the Holy Land in particular."

During the Mass, the 81-year-old pontiff, on a gold and white stage dominated by a 14-foot crucifix, preached a message intended to buoy his wandering U.S. flock while acknowledging the pain suffered by some of the more vulnerable members of American society. He spoke of the "injustices endured by the Native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves."

Yet "hope, hope for the future, is very much a part of the American character," he said.

At the Mass, Angela Clare Davis, 43, an office manager from Charlestown, W.Va., said, "I can die now." She won a ticket to the Mass in a church raffle. "This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me," she said. "I am going to receive the Eucharist consecrated by the Holy Father's hands."

Papal experts have said Benedict does not like stadium Masses as he prefers to worship in a liturgically sacred space whenever possible. Nationals Park, however, had been turned into a hybrid ballfield-sanctuary. The service took place across the outfield, with the towering stage in center field and white-robed clergy in far right and left fields. Much of the new grass was covered with white tiling to protect it from the hundreds of people seated in chairs facing the pope.

The crowd was uncharacteristically still for a ballpark gathering. Few of the thousands of worshipers moved during the homily delivered in Benedict's heavily accented but calming voice. People listened quietly until the end, when Benedict broke out into a short message in Spanish, immediately prompting a whoop and shouts of "Viva!"

The scene in the hours before the Mass was celebratory and upbeat, not unlike a World Series game. Lines were huge, with more than 50 waiting at most women's restrooms. There were also crowds at stands that sold rosary rings, postcards, yellow golf shirts with Benedict's insignia, T-shirts with the message "The one who has hope lives differently" and baseball hats with the words "Christ our Hope."

Security was extremely tight, creating long lines at the entrances. In addition to passing through 25 metal detectors, worshipers were scanned with a wand, and their bags were searched.

Sonia Bungcayao and her niece Helen Ford bought rosary rings, prayer cards and bumper stickers to give to friends. They hope to have them blessed by priests.

"It's holy, you know?" said Bungcayao, who traveled from her home near Chicago to attend the Mass. "I might not see him [the pope] again. He might not come to the U.S. again. This is our last chance."

The super-size service required super-size accommodations. Three hundred deacons were stationed around the stadium so that Communion could be offered to everyone within 20 minutes.

Before Mass, hundreds waited in line for the sacrament of penance under white tents inside the ballpark. With pairs of chairs as confessionals, 65 priests in ivory robes leaned forward, listening to the penitents' sins, while sisters from the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Martara, baseball caps over their waist-length blue veils, corralled people into lines.

"I'm due," said Rob Donovan, a Gettysburg College senior, who acknowledged that it was his first confession in two years. "This is an event where you want to return to your faith, and it's time to take my faith a little more seriously."

As 10 a.m. and the start of the Mass drew near, dozens were still in line, so priests began hearing confessions under the stairs and by the soda machines.

Staff writer Petula Dvorak and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.