The Holy Father, during his short stay with us in our country, has left us much to think about and ponder.  I remember, before His Holiness’ arrival, the usual whimperings of the American media to the effect that the Pope is so “out of touch” with “the way things are” and that, came the conclusion before the event, the Pope’s visit would not amount to much.  To their credit, the media, most of them, had the sense to change their tune.  I got the impression that they were surprised by the Holy Father’s demeanor (no real finger-wagging even if a lot of exhortation), that the Pontiff did not come to America to wield the sword of authority in a kind of power-play, but rather, spoke to us as the kind father he is.  Like any good parent, he, of course, refused to “get in touch with the way things are” – as if “the way things are” is the way things are supposed to be – but instead challenged his flock and all people of good will to things higher.

      If there was a central theme to Pope Benedict’s talks, it was his gentle warning that we of the modern world are in danger of losing sight completely of the essential category of truth.  The Pope reiterated this theme – first addressed by him when he took possession of the Cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran – that relativism, far from being a recipe for freedom, peace and equality, is always an especially dangerous form of tyranny.  Without truth there is no foundation on which to build anything; there is no standard to judge what is poisonous to human society.  Without truth, there is no convincing rebuke of a Hitler or Stalin, no means of grounding true freedom.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” Benedict reminded us Americans of our own founding principle, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights….”   In like manner, the Holy Father spoke to young Americans, urging them to realize this connection between truth and freedom, not only in politics, but especially in the moral, religious realm, what our Lord Himself proclaimed:  “the truth will set you free.”