A vibrant, if unorthodox, U.S. flock awaits pope's visit

From the Vatican, the church in America is often seen as problematic, consumed by sex abuse scandals and populated by "cafeteria Catholics" who pick and choose the religious rules they want to follow, casually adjusting doctrine to meet the demands of their busy lives in an overly permissive society.

But Benedict sees a dynamic church, one that has navigated with fair success the maze of living a faithful life in a secular, materialistic world. For him, the church in America is less a challenge and more a potential model, as is the growing role of religion in American society.

"From the dawn of the republic," the pope said recently, "America has been . . . a nation which values the role of religious belief in ensuring a vibrant and ethically sound democratic order."

Benedict, who arrives in Washington on Tuesday, hopes to use his six-day visit, which will include meetings with Catholic seminarians, educators and clergy, as well as two enormous open-air Masses, to stress the importance of God in daily life. He is also expected to touch on more sensitive topics such as war, abortion and human rights.

Benedict will also be on a mission to heal still-festering wounds: This is the first visit by a pope to the U.S. since pedophilia cases involving hundreds of priests came to light in 2002. And he will encounter a church that has undergone dramatic demographic change in the last decade, its parish pews filled thanks in large part to Hispanics and Hispanic immigrants, as is especially evident in Southern California.

"He will not be afraid to confront the challenges that confront us all," Father David M. O'Connell, president of Catholic University of America, said in an interview. But, O'Connell added, "his message will be one that is very positive and encouraging, that focuses on the future, not simply examines the past. . . . The goal will be to lift up hope for American Catholics."

"He's not coming here to shake his fist at us," said Father Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.

In recent comments to the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon, the pope was full of praise for "the American people's historic appreciation of the role of religion in shaping public discourse and in shedding light on the inherent moral dimension of social issues."