Pope Benedict XVI came to the United States for six days and left behind fond memories for those who saw him.The debate is already under way over whether his visit will have any lasting impact.
"Whether the trip is going to have a significant outcome regarding the large problems facing American Catholicism, that's anyone's guess," said Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for the U.S. bishops' conference.
The pope addressed one of those large problems head-on, meeting with victims of clergy abuse.
"He mentioned the scandal repeatedly," Bill Garvey, editor of BustedHalo.com, told Gorski.
"Pope Benedict is aware American Catholics need to talk about it -- and heal. That is profound."
"Above all, Benedict urged his audiences to find hope in Jesus Christ," Gorski wrote.
"That message can be more complicated than it appears to be on the surface. Some people find truth when they hear the pope speak about "the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death."
Others emphasize that those words reflect the church's opposition to institutionalized war and the death penalty. Still others were heartened when Benedict told the United Nations, "The full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to the free exercise of worship, but has to give due consideration to the public dimension of religion, and hence to the possibility of believers playing their part in building the social order."
Although people tend to pick and choose which teachings they prefer, cafeteria-style, all of these messages come from the same source.
In his UN speech, Benedict quoted fifth-century scholar Augustine of Hippo when he said the saying "Do not to others what you would not want them to do to you ... cannot in any way vary, whatever the different understandings that have arisen in the world ..."
If that ancient message is all that lingers now that Benedict has returned home, the pope's visit may indeed have a lasting impact.
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