U.S. trip softens pope's image, raises expectations

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - He came, they saw, he conquered.

Pope Benedict arrived in the United States with a reputation as a stern Catholic doctrinaire and left the faithful with an image of a kindly pastor.

"Pope of Hope" read a headline in New York's Daily News. El Diario, a tabloid for the Spanish-speaking minority that makes up a growing part of the U.S. Catholic Church, hailed the "Ola de Paz" (Wave of Peace).

The impression Benedict made surprised even American Catholics who study Benedict's role as head of the 1.1-billion-strong Church.

"This was a very successful trip, and I didn't fully anticipate that," said Chester Gillis, theology professor at Georgetown University in Washington.

"Instead of being the distant theologian breathing the rarefied air of the Vatican, he came down to the ground and was warm and charming and sensitive in what he said."

Thomas Noble, a papal historian at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said: "There's obviously a human dimension and a pastoral dimension there that hasn't always been in evidence."

The applause for Benedict had little to do with charisma. Shy and scrupulous, he read his speeches ponderously and spared the crowd-pleasing gestures. But his message was carefully honed and he conveyed it daily in word and deed.

Even critics -- such as the victims of sexual abuse by priests -- seemed disarmed by Benedict's frank talk about the crisis and ended up mostly calling for further action.

SINGER, NOT THE SONG

Comparing him to more charismatic popes, Alicia Colon wrote in the New York Sun: "It doesn't matter if it's a Roncalli, a Wojtyla or a Ratzinger who wears the white robes and miter. It's the words that will always resonate in our hearts. It's not the singer, it's the song."

Gillis said Benedict made sure that song had wide appeal.

"It was a something-for-everyone trip," he said. "For conservative Catholics, he hit the general notes, but for liberal Catholics, he didn't pounce on them as some had anticipated. I thought it was orchestrated beautifully."

His approach to the sexual abuse scandal hit the right note, he said. "It's like 'Rome gets it,'" Gillis said.

Benedict's upbeat message was also well-suited to Americans' self-image as a "can do" nation. "It was probably better to hear uplifting things rather than condemnations," he said.