…in which I appreciate this Pope. Number 73: this interview with Vatican Radio:

“ Holy Father, can you tell me what you would like to transmit to the youth of the world? What is the main issue you would like to “bring about”?

Yes – I would like to show them how beautiful it is to be Christian, because the widespread idea which continues to exist is that Christianity is composed of laws and bans which one has to keep and, hence, is something toilsome and burdensome – that one is freer without such a burden. I want to make clear that it not a burden to be carried by a great love and realization, but it is like having wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a great breadth, a large community: As Christians we are never alone – in the sense that God is always with us, but also in the sense that we are always standing together in a large community, a community for The Way, that we have a project for the future – and in this way a Being which is worth believing in. This is the joy of being a Christian and is the beauty of believing.

Do go read it, and put it in your pocket for the "Oh, this Pope just wants to roll back Vatican II."

I think what strikes me is the rather astonishing, and to me, very accurate assesment of human nature, the challenges of being a Christian in the contemporary world, and the dynamics of the modern Church that permeates his words.