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(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI praised America as a land of
opportunity and hope Thursday as he celebrated the first public
Mass of his U.S. pilgrimage, but he lamented that the nation's
promise fell short for Indians and blacks.

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

      Tens of thousands of worshippers filled Nationals Park on a
clear spring day and cheered Benedict as he arrived in a white
popemobile, standing in the back and waving. A crowd of 46,000 was
expected, and the demand for tickets doubled the supply, organizers
said.

      The pope, wearing scarlet vestments, led the service from an
altar erected in centerfield of the recently inaugurated baseball
stadium. Rows of red-robed church leaders joined him.

      In brilliant spring sunshine, the pope walked down from the
altar to distribute Holy Communion near the end of Mass.

      "Americans have always been a people of hope," he said during
his homily. "Your ancestors came to this country with the
experience of finding new freedom and opportunity.

      "To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the
inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by
the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from
Africa as slaves."

      He turned for a third day to the clergy sex abuse scandal that
rocked the American church, saying "no words of mine could
describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse."

      He called for healing and reconciliation and assistance to the
victims.

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Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the United States for the first time as leader of the world's Roman Catholics.  Midday explores the messages he plans to emphasize during his trip and the impact of his visit.

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