Pope Benedict XVI: THE BRIGHTSIDE:

Ricky Pequeño Jr., 17, right, with his father, Ricardo Sr., and sisters, Andrea, 11, and Rachel, 8. Ricky has two tickets to Nationals Park in Washington, where Pope Benedict XVI plans to celebrate Mass on Thursday during his first papal visit to America.

They would end up in a borrowed van with a hastily added trailer and, with little spare cash and no overnight reservations, set off. "It's up to God in the end," said Ricky's father, Ricardo Sr., 44, a machinist who grew up in Mexico, before driving off for a final blessing from their pastor.

As Pope Benedict XVI prepared for his first papal voyage to America, Mr. Pequeño and his family - his Mexican-born wife, Maria, 40; Ricky, 17; Andrea, 11; Rachel, 8; and Emily, 3 - and 14 neighbors were leaving from this blue-collar suburb north of Houston in two packed vans, headed for Washington and New York and, they hoped, at least a glimpse of the pontiff.

"We don't know if we'll ever see Benedict up close," said Rosalind Alvarez, a fellow passenger. But Ms. Alvarez added, "Somehow the word he says is going to reach us."

Only Ricky had a prized ticket - two, in fact - to enter Nationals Park in Washington, where the pope is to celebrate Mass on Thursday. They were gifts from his pastor, the Rev. Miguel Solorzano of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Houston, who had managed to get 11 from his bishop, although he had asked for 100.

Ricky had once voiced an interest in the priesthood, and Father Solorzano said he wanted to encourage the boy. Ricky ended up inviting a friend, a girl. "He's young," the priest said, laughing....

The Pequeños and their fellow pilgrims are a particularly ardent band. They are followers of the Neocatechumenal Way, a communitarian church movement, founded in Spain in the 1960s and accepted by the Vatican, that emphasizes a return to early Christian roots, evangelism, intense religious practice and sacrifice.

The Pequeños' house is filled with Bibles and Christian images. Over the fireplace hangs a copy of an icon by the Spanish painter Francisco (Kiko) Argüello, who co-founded the movement.

Before they joined, Mr. Pequeño said, "we would just go to church for Sundays and holidays." Now they go several times a week, he said, and often evangelize door to door, sometimes playing music.

"We use a lot of instruments," added Ricky, who plays the drum. "The devil uses a lot of noise, and we fight against the devil, also with a lot of noise."

The family credits their faith for helping them through many crises. Mr. and Mrs. Pequeño, who migrated to the United States from Mexico and became citizens, said their marriage had undergone strains. Mr. Pequeño said he complained about his wife but learned through prayer that "the way to change my wife is me." He said they were also distraught when a medical condition prevented his wife from bearing more children. They prayed over it, he said, and quickly learned of a 2-year-old girl needing adoption. They happily took in the child, Emily.

NOW THE DOWNSIDE:

Uncertain Church Awaits Pope in U.S.

Richard Perry/The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Leah Vassallo's church in Malaga, N.J., is slated to close as part of a plan to cut the number of parishes in her diocese by half.

The pope is expected to praise the American church's vibrancy during his visit, and there is much for the church to celebrate. Catholics are the biggest religious group in the United States, about 23 percent of the population, a proportion that has held steady. Many parishes are healthy, and some are growing, with the influx of immigrants, especially Hispanics.

A poll released on Sunday by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University showed a mixed performance review for the American bishops: 22 percent of Catholics are "very satisfied" with the bishops, 50 percent are "somewhat satisfied," 21 percent are "somewhat dissatisfied," and 6 percent are "very dissatisfied." It is an improvement from 2002, the outbreak of the scandal.

Peter Borre, a parishioner who helped form the Council of Parishes in Boston, said that if he could address Pope Benedict XVI, he would say: "The shortage of priests, Your Holiness, is both a symptom and a problem itself. The deeper problem is not a responsibility of the flock, it's a failure of bishops to inspire and draw more people into the priesthood."

Some bishops, like Joseph Galante in Camden, have tried to involve the laity in the painful restructuring process. But since the sexual abuse scandal, they are finding many of their parishioners have become more confrontational.

The restiveness is not only among laity. In Belleville, Ill., last month, 45 priests took the step of publicly releasing a letter to the Vatican's representative in Washington calling for their bishop to step down. They accused the bishop, Edward K. Braxton, of poor communication with priests and of misappropriating more than $17,000 and using it to buy liturgical garments and furniture. (The bishop has apologized, but said he would not resign.)

In Boston, Catholics have spent the last four years taking turns camping inside five churches that the archdiocese wants to close. They figure that if the church is occupied, the archdiocese will not be able to padlock it.

In Boston and Toledo, some Catholics are suing the church to prevent the closings.

The quandary for the church is that the agitation is coming from some of the most religiously committed Catholics, said Mr. D'Antonio, co-author of a recent book that surveyed the members of "Voice of the Faithful," another church reform group.

As Catholics they are devoted to their church, but don't necessarily agree with all of its decisions. As Americans, accustomed to life in a democracy, they think they have a right to say so.*

Three quarters of American Catholics and more than a majority of Americans have a favorable opinion of Pope Benedict XVI. Actually, Americans don't know much about him. In one recent poll, 80 percent said they knew either not very much or nothing at all about the Pope. In the same poll, conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, 17 percent admitted they had never even heard of him.