Ann, 13

I want to participate in this because I want to learn how I can live my faith in my everyday life because you always hear people talking about the government and how you can bring your faith into politics and things like that, but you never actually hear what you can do everyday to make the world a better place, just in small ways

I think that he must be a man who has a lot of wisdom. He lived through World War II and he's seen so many different things. I've hear his voice on the radio and he seems like a pretty powerful speaker so I think it must be something to actually hear him in person.

I'd definitely like to hear the pope talk more about the war in Iraq, just because he probably knows a lot about wars, having lived through World War II himself and how it affected the world. I'd like to hear him give his views on all the violence because the violence may be coming to some good. You hear about all this tragedy but you also hear about all these successes over in Iraq, so I'd like to hear his opinion on it.

Kelly, 12

I would like to hear Pope Benedict talk about his childhood in Germany, because I thought it was interesting how he was in the youth group for Hitler and how that could have changed his religion, but he stayed true to himself.

I think that Pope Benedict has high standards because people really like Pope John Paul II but I think that he's done a great job to do everything he can to reach out to people and tell them what he's feeling. I think he's a great pope.

Rumbi, 15

So I ended up going to the mass when my friends introduced me to the whole thing and they told me about it, and it was kind of a big thing at my school. So, I thought it would be great, a lifetime opportunity to go there and see the pope.

Well, I know a few things about his background. I know that his name, his birth name, was Joseph Ratzinger and he became, he was ordained a priest and his birthplace was Germany and his cousin was killed by the Nazis - that was the time when he was around, the Nazis were around. His cousin was killed by the Nazis because he was mentally handicapped.

I hope that when I go see him he talks to us, to the young people, about making peace and you know how he is planning to work with others around the world, leaders around the world, to make life better.

This whole thing has really has had an effect on my religious beliefs. I'm not, thinking of converting to Catholic, but it has really helped me understand and respect the Catholic religion and leaders such as the pope. And it has helped me get a better understand of how this, the coming of the pope, is really important to the Catholics because they see him as a great leader and a great influence on their lives.

My family was really excited about me getting the chance to go see the pope because you know, like I said, you never know what can happen in life. Maybe this is the only time I get to see him. So, you know, looking back in the future I'll be happy to know that I was there in 2008 when the pope came.

Erwin, 15

So, I didn't know. And when I saw my name, it was kind of spelled wrong, so I was kind of nervous, "Oh my God, is that me or not?" And then when I saw that it was me I was so excited, like it's such an experience that we get to see the pope and we don't just get to see him on the TV. It's a different experience, like you know these tickets are hard to get, right? So it's such an honor that they let me go when there's a whole bunch of people that want to go. So I'm there to represent people that couldn't go, didn't have the opportunity to go. And I was chosen so it makes me feel special because I could see the pope.

Clare, 13

I heard that he had an iPod and I think that's actually kind of cool because he's the first pope to own an iPod. I think that shows that while he's the leader of the church he is still part of the world and he still has stuff that other people do.

I also think he's doing a good job reaching out to the world because now he's traveling just like Pope John Paul II did. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to travel and now Pope Benedict is doing the same as him.

I'd really like to hear him talk about how children should use their faith in their lives because in this generation it's been hard for children-well it's always hard-but this generation hasn't always had the right influences with the media and I'd like to hear him talk about how children specifically can bring their faith into their lives and turn all their belief into action.

Ksenia, 15

I think he's a pretty amazing person. I haven't exactly heard him speak, but I've seen pictures of him and I've heard from other people that he is a pleasant guy, he's really nice and he's just a really down to earth kind of guy.

I'm actually more for no abortion, but I'd like to hear what he has to say about it because it's a big, big controversy kind of thing that everyone is talking about.