I didn’t get a chance to watch any video today, but I did read the Pope’s various addresses. The strongest and most interesting words from the homily at the Mass at the Nationals ballpark were these about the Sacrament of Penance - heck, even calling it the Sacrament of Penance is a strong statement in itself:

In today’s Gospel, the risen Lord bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and grants them the authority to forgive sins. Through the surpassing power of Christ’s grace, entrusted to frail human ministers, the Church is constantly reborn and each of us is given the hope of a new beginning. Let us trust in the Spirit’s power to inspire conversion, to heal every wound, to overcome every division, and to inspire new life and freedom. How much we need these gifts! And how close at hand they are, particularly in the sacrament of Penance! The liberating power of this sacrament, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God’s merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of Penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.

I was particularly curious about what Pope Benedict would say to the Catholic educators of America during his visit. One could wish that the talk had been full of fire and brimstone, but, for better or worse, that’s not the way with these things. His most direct remarks about upholding orthodoxy and genuine Catholic life in higher education were these:

In regard to faculty members at Catholic colleges universities, I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university’s identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church’s munus docendi and not somehow autonomous or independent of it.

Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church’s Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.

I guess I don’t understand why he didn’t put it more strongly than that - and, remember, folks are often bad at connecting the dots when it’s not blindingly obvious. What I mean is: it should be obvious from his remarks earlier in the address that faith and reason can never conflict. So perhaps he doesn’t need to say it again here. But given what he does say here, it comes off as though Catholic professors just have to tow the Catholic line; or, their academic freedom is curtailed by towing the Catholic line. That’s true! but only at one level. At the most important level, “towing the Catholic line” just means affirming the truth which we have from God Himself. In other words, you’d have to be insaneto both claim to be a Catholic and to affirm a position contrary to the dogmata of the Church.

The address at the interreligious peace thing was better than I expected. Though he did quote that arch Freemason, Franklin Roosevelt, Benedict later had some, I thought, solid remarks along these lines:

I have noticed a growing interest among governments to sponsor programs intended to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue. These are praiseworthy initiatives. At the same time, religious freedom, interreligious dialogue and faith-based education aim at something more than a consensus regarding ways to implement practical strategies for advancing peace. The broader purpose of dialogue is to discover the truth. What is the origin and destiny of mankind? What are good and evil? What awaits us at the end of our earthly existence? Only by addressing these deeper questions can we build a solid basis for the peace and security of the human family, for “wherever and whenever men and women are enlightened by the splendor of truth, they naturally set out on the path of peace” (Message for the 2006 World Day of Peace, 3).

We are living in an age when these questions are too often marginalized. Yet they can never be erased from the human heart. Throughout history, men and women have striven to articulate their restlessness with this passing world. . . . Spiritual leaders have a special duty, and we might say competence, to place the deeper questions at the forefront of human consciousness, to reawaken mankind to the mystery of human existence, and to make space in a frenetic world for reflection and prayer.

And this was the note on which he ended:

Dear friends, in our attempt to discover points of commonality, perhaps we have shied away from the responsibility to discuss our differences with calmness and clarity. While always uniting our hearts and minds in the call for peace, we must also listen attentively to the voice of truth. In this way, our dialogue will not stop at identifying a common set of values, but go on to probe their ultimate foundation. We have no reason to fear, for the truth unveils for us the essential relationship between the world and God. We are able to perceive that peace is a “heavenly gift” that calls us to conform human history to the divine order. Herein lies the “truth of peace”.

Wow, our Holy Father must be exhausted - a man of 81 years, having flown across the Atlantic, and then all of these public engagements and rather long speeches. They don’t take to long to read to oneself, but to read them out loud, and in a foreign tongue, that’s a different thing. God grant him many more strong years!