Decoding the Pope's words about the dangers of secularism in society

It's a common mistake. And in Ratzinger's case, it's a justifiable one because he isn't usually inclined to blather, whatever his other failings may be. If he is staying as vague and content-depleted as he is, it's probably because anything more specific would be so easy to attack.

Which aggressive secularists wish to exclude the church from public discourse? (Even Richard Dawkins doesn't---he only things the church's arguments should no longer get a free ride just because it's a church making them.) And, exactly how is religion supposed to guaranty "authentic liberty"? What specific contribution to liberty can we expect from the particular religion that brought us the Holy Inquisition? As soon as the Pope talks about concrete things like these, he can't win anymore. That's why he's staying so vague. That, at least, is my take on the speech.

In his homily, the Pope warned against people who seek "to exclude religious belief from public discourse". Earlier, he urged the UK to resist "more aggressive forms of secularism".

In his sermon in Glasgow, the Pope said that those individuals who wished to exclude religion even went as far as painting it "as a threat to equality and liberty". But he insisted: "Religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect."

The pontiff also said that a "dictatorship of relativism" threatened "to obscure the unchanging truth about man's nature, his destiny and his ultimate good".

He added: "Society today needs clear voices which propose our right to live, not in a jungle of self-destructive and arbitrary freedoms, but in a society which works for the true welfare of its citizens and offers them guidance and protection in the face of their weakness and fragility."

... He added: "Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate."

Stephen Fry:
http://richarddawkins.net/videos/519516-pope-should-not-have-a-state-visit

The pope's comments on secularism and atheism came in marked contrast to the conciliatory and contrite words he offered victims of Catholic sexual abuse.

In a 15-minute long briefing to journalists aboard the papal plane this morning, Benedict described pedophilia as an "illness" whose sufferers had lost their free will.

Using his strongest language to date on his church's record on clerical sex abuse, he deplored its failure to act swiftly and decisively in the past.

"It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly mission was possible," he said, adding that the church was "at a moment of penitence, humility and renewed sincerity".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/pope-benedict-xvi-atheist-extremism

He said the first priority was to help the victims to recover from the trauma they had undergone "and rediscover too their faith in the message of Christ".

His turnaround came in the end of the 1960s, when violent Marxist students picketed and disrupted his lectures. Reacting to the Marxist's violence, Ratzinger decided that the Catholic Church needed to take a stand against them. Over time, he turned increasingly conservative and doctrinaire.

My best guess is that his paranoia about "aggressive secularists" is a calcified behavioral pattern. It started as a justified response in his encounters with those 1968 Marxist students. And when Marxism died away, his reaction survived, just as the smile of Carol's Cheshire cat survived the cat smiling it.

Reading that Guardian article a bit more closely: pedophilia is an "illness"? Does that mean that it wasn't within the power of offending clergy to stop themselves? Therefore somehow it couldn't be helped & so they're excused? :

In his homily, the Pope warned against people who seek "to exclude religious belief from public discourse".
Earlier, he urged the UK to resist "more aggressive forms of secularism".

The pope's comments on secularism and atheism came in marked contrast to the conciliatory and contrite words he offered victims of Catholic sexual abuse.
In a 15-minute long briefing to journalists aboard the papal plane this morning, Benedict described pedophilia as an "illness" whose sufferers had lost their free will.

"It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly mission was possible," he said, adding that the church was "at a moment of penitence, humility and renewed sincerity".

He said the first priority was to help the victims to recover from the trauma they had undergone "and rediscover too their faith in the message of Christ".