The passage is the key

It is such a delightful change to have Ratzinger as the pope. Gone are those days when Catholicism was increasingly becoming a new age religion.

Understand this, I do not agree with what this pope or the earlier pope have said, further I do not even agree with Christianity or other religion which are inspired by Abraham covenant with God (based on my understanding of these religions), but I am unimpressed by weasel wording which was wont of earlier pope. This pope on the contrary is considered to be an authority on matters of theology, as well as having more rigourous as far as discourse on religion is concerned. So bye bye to inter faith dialogues and such exercises in futility like that, and welcome to traditional catholic values.

But why should this matter ? Well I think that Europe is disintegrating (I may be wrong). Granted that a lion's share of blame must be apportioned to the touchy feely socialism pursued by most of western Europe. But I think the problem goes deeper, it is this, Europe is forgetting its social values, in absence of any social bond it is disintegrating. This fracture in turn is not a cosmic accident.

May be it is my religious bent of mind, but to me society and civilization forms around some basic premise, a central idea. This need not be belief in God (although most of the time it is), to give an example while Greeks had mythology and rituals, they didn't have much of religion. Yet even Greek cities owed allegiance to different world views. The important thing is that the basic principle should be able to engage people at social level. Sadly Europe has rejected her faith, which acted as her glue. To make the matters post world war - II intellectual space has been monopolized by individualism, when individual is worshipped as God in exclusion of any social ethos, the results are expected. It is almost as if Europe is busy in devouring herself.

It is in this that intervention of Pope is significant. While he started his carried as a liberal, today he is a strong votary of Europe recognizing her christian roots, he is also critical of secular nature of European countries, especially the atmosphere of multiculturalism and moral relativism.

In a paper titled "If Europe hates itself" he wrote "The West reveals ... a hatred of itself, which is strange and can only be considered pathological; the West ... no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure".

I think his lecture which launched thousand protests was his most significant gesture till this date.The protests drowned out the main thrust of his lecture which was about need to reconcile modern reason with "christian" faith, his familiar refrain.

However this time there was a difference. The difference was his uncharacteristic criticism of Islam and its founder by invoking words of Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos in his lecture (as recorded by Theodore Khoury)

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"

While conservative commentators have tried to explain away this as unintentional on part of pope
(as has pope himself). However I think the pope used the phrase intentionally. The primary intention was not really to provoke Muslim (though I suspect, pope couldn't but have guessed its reaction on Muslims).

The main intention (that I can surmise) was to signal those in west, in general ( and Europe in particular) who are alarmed by the rising Islamic fundamentalism.
It was a message to those who are not deluded enough to be mortified by the prospect of Eurabia and Londonistan. The message is simple (if controversial), to stop the disintegration of Europe and to prevent the assimilation into Islamic influence, Europe must rediscover her roots.

As I said earlier I am hardly a fan of Christianity, of any flavour (hard to be, when the basic tenant is if you do not confine yourself to Jesus you are doomed to eternal punishment of hell)
I also think that Church's opposition to birth control and evolution is, to put it mildly, dogmatic.

That said, I do believe that it is crucial, not only for Europe, not only for West but for the world that Europe finds back its foothold. Increased interaction with Church can go a long way towards this.

One assumption that I am making is that it is possible to co habitat with church. I do not think it is unreasonable, all said and done, it is true that Jesus preferred to die and Prophet Mohammad did lift sword to slay.

PS Swapan Das Gupta writes brilliantly on this, "We are all papists now".