Among more than 5,000 journalists covering the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States this week, one television crew from Duquesne University stands out.

"They're the only student journalists we credentialed," said Susan Gibbs, communications director of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

The fact that the pope's host, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, is Pittsburgh's former bishop and occasionally taught at Duquesne didn't hurt, she admitted.

"When I saw it was Duquesne, how could I say no?" she said.

The team of 12 students and one professor from campus station DUQ-TV is making a one-hour documentary on the papal visit, which will also be available through the school's Web site.

They've been all over Washington, D.C., and New York this week, filming everyone from dignitaries who met the pope to people lining the streets to see him pass by in his popemobile.

They've interviewed "everyone from atheists to archbishops," said Dennis Woytek, assistant professor of journalism and multimedia arts, who is supervising five students in Washington and another seven in New York.

The documentary will have little or no narration because "we want the people here to tell the story and describe what they see and felt," said Stacy Gault, 24, from Whitehall, who graduated last year but returned for advanced work in broadcast journalism

They gathered perspectives from people of all faiths and nationalities, said Michael Krohmahy, 22, a senior from Plum.

"I was expecting just Catholics, but there were Jewish people and Amish," he said of the throngs waiting to see the pope, adding that the Amish wouldn't go on camera.

Most of those who saw the pope were excited, some so overwhelmed they could barely talk, said Nicole Vazquez, 21, a senior from Orlando, Fla. One burly construction worker was talking to them about his faith and what the pope's visit meant to him when he broke down in tears.

The logistics for journalists covering the visit were challenging. They, with all of their equipment, had to be searched by Secret Service agents and bomb-sniffing dogs before each event, escorted by police motorcade to the site and sealed inside hours before the pope arrived.

"It's been exhausting," Ms. Vasquez said.

"We go into every day with a game plan. But we learned to adapt and overcome" as security and other challenges put some plans out of reach, said Ms. Gault.

When the crew covered Pope Benedict's arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Ms. Vasquez did a stand-up as the papal jetliner, Shepherd One, taxied behind her.

"If that's part of her resume tape, [potential employers] will see real world experience," Mr. Woytek said.