The estimated crowd of 18,000 came from the Washington area and from across the country and were joined by young adults from Sydney on their way to World Youth Day in Panama.

Father William Byrne, the pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, said he has been telling his parishioners "that I walk with them in sadness, in pain and in anger."

Addressing the clergy abuse crisis in the church will require "wider lay engagement, more realized accountability and evident transparency," said Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl at the end of a Sept. 2 Mass in Washington.

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl said the concept of race is not a biological reality, but a social construct.

"The word of God says to us, 'Don't conform yourself to this age.'"