On his second full day in Washington, Pope Benedict XVI greeted the people face to face.

And more than 45,000 at the new Nationals Ball Park responded with a roar for the 81 year old, who appeared almost humbled by the enthusiasm of the crowd.

The two hour liturgy was filled with music both lively and solemn, displaying both the modern ethnic influence among Catholics in this country and the centuries old tradition of the church.

In his homily, benedict laid out the challenge for both church and society in the 21st century, with words of high praise for American Catholics.

"My visit to the United States is meant to be a witness to ‘Christ our Hope.’ Americans have always been a people of hope: your ancestors came to this country with the expectation of finding new freedom and opportunity,” said Pope Benedict XVI.

But there was also an edge to Benedict's remarks.

For the third day in a row, he addressed the sex abuse crisis involving priests and young parishioners in a way that suggested it has affected him deeply.

"No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. Nor can I adequately describe the damage that has occurred within the community of the Church,” said Pope Benedict XVI.

This the day after he told bishops they had handled the crisis poorly, perhaps by not handling it at all.

But today was mostly about joy as the faithful came out to celebrate the presence of a Pontiff in Washington for the first time in nearly 30 years, with some of the participants entering the stadium as early at 5:30 a.m. for a mass that didn't start until 10 a.m.

But no one seemed to complain about the wait.

The Pope is meeting here this evening with the heads of Catholic universities and colleges.

Tomorrow he's off to New York and after landing at Kennedy airport he heads straight to the United Nations, where he's expected to speak at length on human rights.