"Truly," The Pope Goes Home

At this hour -- and at long last -- Benedict XVI is relaxing at his "true home," the Pentling house he built in the 1970s in anticipation of a quiet but full retirement of meditation, writing and piano-playing. Obviously, others had other plans for the Regensburg theologian....

If only the Ratz could take it easy and just suited up for the day.

Last night, the fourth day of the Pope's Bavarian homecoming ended with another ecumenical vespers service, this time in Regensburg Cathedral. (Homily here.) Yet again, the Papstbruder, Msgr Georg Ratzinger (shown here with his brother earlier today), seems to have been culled from retirement to lead the Dom's famed boys' choir, which he directed for many years despite remaining incardinated to the archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

Arguably the highlight of the day, however -- at least for the Pope -- was his return to the University of Regensburg where, from 1969 until his appointment to Munich in 1977, he served as professor of dogmatic theology and the history of dogma, and university vice-president. "It is a moving experience for me to stand and give a lecture at this university podium once again," began the Benedict's lecture text, devoted mostly to "the synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit" and a denunciation of the "dehellenization of Christianity" present in the modern theological movement.

Notably, however, the visiting lecturer observed that "the scientific ethos... is the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, it embodies an attitude which reflects one of the basic tenets of Christianity."


PHOTO: AP/Diether Endlicher

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