From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Pope Benedict XVIth visits America.

Hello again, I'm Warren Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

President Bush is giving full head of state treatment to a powerful critic of the war in Iraq, not to mention capital

punishment and the boycott of Cuba. But today on the White House lawn, both leaders spoke warmly of

their relationship and the importance of religion in America's public life. On to the point, we'll hear

what the Pope's visit means to almost

25% of the U.S. population, about half of them Latinos. Why are so many Catholics becoming

Pentecostal Protestants? What's the role of the continuing scandal over pedophile priests?

On reporter's notebook later on, a surprise from within the Al-Qaeda terrorist network,

bureaucracy.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hello again,

Mormon-Aulney, back with To the Point. Pope Benedict XVIth addressed a crowd of thousands today on the White

House lawn as he began his six-day pilgrimage to the United States. On To the Point, the

papal visit and the state of America's biggest religious institution. We'll hear about Catholics

becoming Pentecostal Protestants and the continuing scandal over pedophile priests.

On reporter's notebook in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, there is bureaucratic paperwork and penny-pinching, as well as ideological fervor.

First, this news update. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Kentucky's use of lethal injection does not violate the constitutional ban on

cruel and unusual punishment. Executions, which have been on hold pending today's decision,

...