Against the Grain has one of those typically excellent round-ups of news and commentary on Benedict XVI from the past couple of weeks.

Oh, and Here’s a Zenit story on what B. said to the univeristy students on Saturday evening:

The fundamental truth of the Christian faith is that "God is love," the Pope told the students in an address Saturday.

The Holy Father gave copies of his first encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" to some of the young people.

"In this way, symbolically," he said, "I wish to give it to all university students of Europe and Africa, with the hope that the fundamental truth of the Christian faith — God is love — will illuminate the way for each one of you, and through your testimony shine for your fellow students."

"This truth on the love of God, origin, meaning and end of the universe and of history was revealed by Jesus Christ, with his word and with his life, especially in his passion, death and resurrection," Benedict XVI said.

"It is the foundation of Christian experience that, as leaven, is able to make the whole of human culture ferment so that it will express the best of itself and cooperate in the growth of a more just and peaceful world," he said.

The Holy Father was heard by thousands of university students of Rome, gathered in Paul VI Hall, and by students in Bonn, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Fribourg, Switzerland; Madrid, Spain; Munich, Germany; Salamanca, Spain; St. Petersburg, Russia; Sofia, Bulgaria; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Antananarivo, Madagascar; Owerri, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.

The Pope and those gathered in Rome could also see the young people of the various countries who were leading the mysteries of the rosary. He said the event was "a beautiful gesture of the communion of the Catholic Church."