U.S. to get to better know pope this week

NEW YORK, April 13 (UPI) -- Religious scholars are predicting Americans will have a new understanding of Pope Benedict XVI after his visit to the United States this week.

It will be Benedict's first visit New York and Washington since being elected to head the Roman Catholic Church, giving some Americans a chance to compare his personality in person to his somewhat hard-line image, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

"This is an opportunity for him to present himself to the American people, who don't really know him," R. James Nicholson, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, told the Globe. "I think they will be surprised."

Some analysts pointed out Benedict has most recently been focused on Catholicism in Europe, where the church is seen as struggling. That's a contrast to the other side of the Atlantic where Catholics still are the largest U.S. denomination despite a membership decline and sexual scandals.

"He thinks more highly of America than we might have thought," said Chester Gillis, a professor of theology at Georgetown University. "So he comes here, and he's looking at a Christianity that's pretty robust."