One man who got to be with the pope almost continuously during Benedict's visit was Washington's Archbishop Donald Wuerl, who had the amazing experience of riding in the popemobile not once but several times. What was all that close contact like? What most impressed the archbishop?

I got him in his home office Sunday night, puzzling over how to send thank-you notes to some 2,000 people involved in the Washington portion of the papal trip.

On the pope’s manner: "I think it was the ease with which the pope connected with people and how they connected with him. From the moment he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, he had this warm, open smile. He seemed to be embraced by everyone everywhere he went. He had some quality allowing him to touch peoples' hearts."

"On early Wednesday morning, I went down to join the motorcade group at the hotel. And a cleaning lady told me, 'I am going to be at the Mass. I saw the pope on television and he loves us.'

"Now, I was just stunned by the sincerity and conviction with which she said that. That was the reaction everywhere he went. The same with students at Catholic University, the people who lined the streets, the throngs of people along Pennsylvania Avenue. I could see people crying as he went by. That said to me he had a way of touching peoples' hearts.

"He exuded this sense of calm and joy. He walked into the room and there was this sense of peace."

"[In the popemobile] We were facing him so you could see his face. Just to see it lit up with joy – this smile that never left his face. He was waving. I was transfixed by what was clearly… he exuded a love. It was clear he loved the people he was seeing."

On his conversations with the pope:

"He mentioned how the firm faith people had. He said that a number of times, as he was experiencing that with so much of us. He commented on the Mass at Nationals stadium that it was a true prayer service. Everybody there seemed to have entered into the Mass. It was a Mass – not a show."

I asked him whether he knew about the five sex abuse victims before they met with the pope Thursday afternoon.

"Yes, but it wasn’t to be public information," he said. "He did it with great grace."

Archbishop Wuerl added he was not at the papal nunciature when the five victims were there. I asked him if this would change the way sex abuse complaints were handled among U.S. bishops. He thought not.

"We already have among the bishops very strong policies – monitoring systems," he said. "The priests who have been accused have been removed. There are intensive child protection programs in dioceses. What we were talking about is what happened in the past. The pope was all talking about what happened in past."

I asked him what it was like being at the pope's noon birthday party last Wednesday at the papal nunciature. Archbishop Wuerl was one of the few non-cardinals present at the gathering. The pope, he said, had a cake but it only had one candle.

"He clearly was trying to be a part of what was going on. We were celebrating his birthday our style. It was a wonderful experience being that close to the pope in diverse situations."

What was the height of the visit for him?

"The Mass was my happiest moment; being able to present to the pope some 47,000 people. The way they all cheered and waved was such a beautiful moment – a tribute of their appreciation and his clear pastoral care of them. It was clear he connected with them and they with him."

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times