A Big Day For The Pope And Catholics Both Here and Around the World

As I type I am watching Fox News' coverage of the Pope's arrival and mass at National Park, and am glad to see as a catholic myself the country still herald's his both arrival and status, and that Christianity is going quite strong in America regardless of the left and the media both doing their best to destroy it, along with their radical friends of Islam of coarse who all must be cringing seeing this display today:

It is a terrible shame however that the Pope, or any human being for that matter has to travel in such a contraption to guarantee his or her safety in this country, but the nuts are out in force and this measure of protection is sadly necessary.

The next few days will be great for those who still find religion to be a great part of their life and hopefully may touch those whom it does not. And it will likewise be unnerving and painful for the liberals and Muslims around the country and world that wish to see Christianity and religion go the way of the last Millennium, to disappear altogether, except for Islam of coarse.

They sure do have a fight on their hands, that's one thing they can all be certain of.

Pope arrives at Mass:

My Way News - "WASHINGTON (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Washington Nationals stadium on Thursday for his first public Mass in the United States, waving to the crowd as he stood in the back of a white popemobile.

Tens of thousands of people waved back as the German-born pope was driven through the grounds. A crowd of 46,000 was expected, and the demand for tickets doubled the supply, organizers said.

Barbara and Michael Loh of Williamsburg, Va., sat alone in the stands taking in the scene. They were among the first to arrive.

'I've been Catholic all my life and ... my dream has always been to see the pope,' said Barbara Loh, tearing up."

At 5:45 a.m., more than four hours before the Mass, it was standing-room only on subways. Vendors hawked Vatican flags and souvenir buttons, but there were few takers as people hurried toward the stadium.

For others, there was nothing more important than getting in, and many people without tickets stood outside the subway station with signs pleading for extras.

Patty Trail, 54, pastoral associate at a church in Virginia Beach, Va., drove overnight to bring two priests to the Mass. She didn't have a ticket but said she was happy to at least be in the vicinity of the pope.

"Just to be out here, just to be in the presence," she said. "D.C. feels different."

Benedict spent the first full day of his U.S. journey Wednesday sharing a platform with President Bush and laying out his analysis of the American church to the nation's bishops.

Before Benedict's arrival, polls showed most Americans knew little or nothing about him. Those who have watched him so far have found a German-born pontiff who speaks excellent English, appears vigorous for his 81 years, mostly prefers script to spontaneity and displays a keen sense of the critical issues facing his 65-million member American flock.

One of larger questions hanging over Benedict's first U.S. trip as pontiff was whether and how he would address the clergy sex abuse scandal, which has claimed thousands of victims, cost the church more than $2 billion in court costs and settlements and led six dioceses to declare bankruptcy.

The answer: He talked about it early, often and with conviction, although not to the satisfaction of many victims and their advocates.

In an address to U.S. bishops Wednesday night at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Benedict called the scandal a "deep shame." He decried the "enormous pain" that communities have suffered from such "gravely immoral behavior."

He also said the problem needs to be viewed in the wider context of secularism and the over-sexualization of America, and called for "a determined, collective response." continued

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