The odd combination of buzzing helicopters overhead and choral music flowing from the church alerted the crowd the time had arrived, and it burst into thunderous cheers and applause as the pope got out of his black limo.

Cameras and cell phones rose into the air to capture just the few moments the pope stood on the cathedral steps to turn and wave to the crowd before entering for the Mass.

His message to the religious leaders included recognition that "even for those of us within, the light of faith can be dimmed by routine and the splendor of the church obscured by the sins and weaknesses of her members."

The pope addressed the sex-abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church and said he is "praying that this will be a time of purification for each and every particular church and religious community, and a time for healing."

Greg Packer, 44, of Huntington, N.Y., traveled to Washington earlier last week for the Mass at the new Nationals Stadium and was on Fifth Avenue Saturday.

While he does not have tickets to the Yankee Stadium Mass, he does have a T-shirt ready asking for "one Mass ticket please."

Packer, who is Jewish, said he still enjoys the Masses.

"The homilies bring me out and the togetherness of everybody," Packer said. "It was really beautiful. It was worth going to Washington, but this is home. I feel like he is coming over to visit me."

Packer added that he liked the fact that Pope Benedict has mentioned the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Karen Banko of Morris Plains, N.J., along with her two daughters and husband, almost did not get to see the pope at all but then ended up on the cathedral steps for a portion of the Mass and the motorcade.

Banko and her family arrived at 6:50 a.m., only to be turned away. They ate breakfast and tried again a few hours later when a "nice policeman" allowed them on the steps.

Banko saw the previous pope, Pope John Paul II, at Shea Stadium in 1979.

"It was very moving, it was very moving this time, too," Banko said. "You are in the presence of a holy person."

Following the Mass, the pope ate lunch with New York's Cardinal Edward Egan and, about two hours after the Mass, rode in the Popemobile around the Cathedral to see and bless those gathered. He then headed to St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers to bless disabled children.

Today, before the Yankee Stadium Mass, the pope will visit ground zero to pray and bless the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He will meet with survivors, firefighters, police and family members of those who died.

After the Mass at Yankee Stadium, the pope will leave the U.S. via John F. Kennedy International Airport before another expected crowd of 3,250 spectators.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com