FRED DE SAM LAZARO, guest anchor: Pope Benedict XVI concluded a defining journey to America earlier this week. It was a get-acquainted visit to a land where his predecessor left a long shadow -- and where many adherents have been drifting from the church. We have analysis of how the 81-year-old pontiff fared, beginning with this report from Kim Lawton.

KIM LAWTON: Pope Benedict XVI said it was a great joy for him to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community in the U.S., and American Catholics clearly took great joy in seeing him. What's less certain is the lasting impact the visit may have on the future of the church here. One of the most important outcomes of the trip may be that Catholics, and Americans overall, got to know this still relatively new pope a little better. Observers said Benedict revealed a largely unexpected warm side to his papacy and the church.

PETER STEINFELS (Co-Director, Fordham Center on Religion & Culture): There are many dimensions of that church: doctrinal, disciplinary, liturgical and personal. And I think the pope has emphasized the pastoral dimension of that and put that particular face on the papacy. And I think that does not solve all the challenges that the American Catholic Church faces, but I think it's a very significant development.

LAWTON: Peter Steinfels is co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. He says Benedict's emphasis on the pastoral is significant because so many people were expecting that the pope, as former head of the Vatican's doctrine office, would come here as a theological enforcer.

Mr. STEINFELS: I think the pastoral hand is very important, because it stresses the person-to-person relationship. It stresses the need for the discretion, if you will, of the pastor to deal with a particular situation and therefore a kind of flexibility, which is always in some tension with what you might call the doctrinal or the rule dimension of the Catholic Church.

LAWTON: Throughout the visit Benedict portrayed a positive vision of the faith.

Pope BENEDICT XVI (speaking at youth rally): Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions. Nothing could be further from the truth.

LAWTON: He frequently praised the vitality of American Catholicism and its influence on society.

Pope BENEDICT XVI (during Yankee Stadium Mass): Our celebration today is also a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the church in your country in the past 200 years.

LAWTON: Benedict did confront head on one major challenge before the church. He specifically referred to the clergy sexual abuse crisis on five different occasions during the trip and held a private meeting with abuse victims. Many Catholics saw this as a big step forward in the healing process. Immediately after the visit, dozens of new people came forward to say they were molested by priests. Victims' rights groups were pleased by the pope's attention and honesty, but they're still pushing for more follow-up action.

PETER ISELY (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests): The pope needs to show that bishops who cover up these crimes are not going to get away with covering up these crimes.

Mr. STEINFELS: I don't think that any one thing like this is going to bring complete closure to this issue, and it's a mistake to think that.

LAWTON: Benedict also mentioned some specific issues from the importance of defending human life to immigration and the environment. But for the most part his speeches and homilies stressed more general spiritual and philosophical themes, such as fighting growing secularism and individualism.

Mr. STEINFELS: I think that his talks will be pored over by leaders of the Church, but I don't think they will have the wide impact on ordinary believers. This is a pope who stresses ideas, theology, worship, prayer. He seems to believe that if you get those things right, the rest will fall in line. Other people may take a different approach. They say we need some institutional and organizational changes.

LAWTON: At several points in his trip, Benedict reached outside the Catholic Church as well. In addition to an interfaith meeting in Washington, he met with Jewish leaders at a synagogue in New York on the eve of Passover celebrations -- the first time a pope has ever visited a synagogue in the U.S. He also met with leaders of other Christian denominations urging them to "hold fast" to sound teaching.

Mr. STEINFELS: For him, it's also a reminder that this dialogue between faiths is ultimately not just a meeting of different abstract principles or beliefs, but it's really a relationship of people.

LAWTON: Benedict showed a surprising connection with young people, generating a level of excitement that Catholic leaders would like to see continue as they struggle to address problems from declining church membership to a severe shortage of priests.

Catholics account for nearly one-quarter of U.S adults. But according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, no other major religion has suffered greater net losses in recent decades. About one-third of those who were raised Catholic have now left the Church. Church officials hope events like this will help reinvigorate the faith.

UNIDENTIFIED NUN #1: Wherever the Holy Father goes, there's an impact, and most of all it's a personal impact for each Catholic, each young person, each old person, whoever hears him.

UNIDENTIFIED PRIEST: It should be invigorating and renewing to see this many people who are excited about the faith.

UNIDENTIFIED NUN #2: We hear so many people talking so negatively about this and that and lack of numbers. But you know what? Christ is still calling, and young people are hearing that calling and are responding, and it's beautiful.

LAWTON: And in the end, church leaders hope that will be the lasting impact of the trip.

DE SAM LAZARO: Kim, is there likely to be an afterglow that lasts from this visit? We saw a lot of enthusiasm in the field. What now?

LAWTON: Well, it's sort of like a sports event. You know, everybody gets all excited when it's happening, but that does fade away, and what the church is hoping is that some of it, at least, will stick around. We did see with John Paul II's visits that after he left some of it did stay, and a lot of younger people who are now in seminaries, or seeking to be in the religious life, to become monks and nuns, a lot of them who are coming in say there were influenced by John Paul II. So I think Benedict's sort of surprising connection with these young people is hope for the church that it might happen. But, you know, the numbers have to be really huge in order to address some of these severe shortages, especially the priest shortage.

DE SAM LAZARO: The Catholic Church has been at the center of several socially ticklish controversies in this country. A lot of it was left unsaid in this visit, wasn't it?

LAWTON: People were very surprised at how non-specific Benedict was. I mean, he obviously talked about the sex abuse crisis, but so many of the other issues facing the church he did not specifically mention. He didn't ever say, well, Americans aren't in line with church teaching on things like birth control. He didn't talk about some of the other controversies -- married priests, celibacy, some of the things that are really dividing American Catholics right now. Instead, he kept to those broad foundational issues. Even in talking about the priest shortage he said that we should -- that Catholics should pray for vocations is what he told the crowd. But he really didn't talk about how local parishes can deal with this problem in the short term. And he never talked about things like more responsibility for lay people and how that gets worked out. I think a lot of people were surprised by the non-specificity.

DE SAM LAZARO: What was his message to (a) the bishops and (b) the college presidents? Catholic educators are very influential in this country. Talk about his respective messages to these groups.

LAWTON: Well, there was some thought that Benedict would come in and start slapping wrists because, after all, as Cardinal Ratzinger he was part of the doctrinal watch office for the church. So people were anticipating he might have some words of rebuke for, especially, the educational institutions that might be a little too free-wheeling when it comes to academic freedom. He did not come in and do that. He did set up a very positive view to say people should know that they're going to a Catholic university; you should adhere to a Catholic identity. But he didn't address the long-simmering tensions about exactly how that gets worked out and what role the bishop has, and what role the institution has, and who has ultimate say in what is academic freedom. The same thing with the bishops: he instructed them generally. He said it's up to you guys to make sure that church formation, moral formation of Catholics on every level is up to church teaching.

DE SAM LAZARO: He was also here in the heat of a campaign, in Pennsylvania specifically. He steered clear of a lot of -- of any politics, it seems.

LAWTON: Again, a lot of people were really surprised. In his speech to the UN he never once mentioned the word Iraq -- such a big, controversial issue and he didn't talk about it, although he has at the Vatican in the past. He talked some about some issues - immigration, certainly. He did mention abortion. But he really tried to not give any politicians fodder to be used for partisan politics.

DE SAM LAZARO: Kim, you expended a lot of shoe leather covering this visit. Thanks very much for your reporting.