Professor Ratzinger Goes Back to School. With the Children

The direct question-and-answer, without reading prepared texts, is a method that Pope Joseph Ratzinger loves.

ROME (Chiesa) - He does it every year with the priests of the diocese of Rome, at the beginning of Lent. He does it in the summer with the priests in the place where he is on vacation. He does it with groups of young people. He does it with the journalists at his departure on each journey.

The direct question-and-answer, without reading prepared texts, is a method that Pope Joseph Ratzinger loves. He used it when he was a professor. He still braves it, although he knows the risks. The latest of these, a sensation, happened when he said that condoms are ineffective in fighting AIDS.

But until a few days ago, Benedict XVI had tried this method with children only once. The question-and-answer session took place in Saint Peter's Square in October of 2005, the first year of his pontificate. The square was full of children from Rome and Lazio who had made their first communion that year. They were between the ages of 8 and 10.

There were seven questions, and pope Ratzinger passed the test with flying colors. He grabbed the children's attention, made himself understood, and gave simple but profound answers.

Inexplicably, however, he did not have any such encounters in the following years. Until just a few days ago, when for the second time he met with children and answered their questions.

The encounter took place on the afternoon of Saturday, May 30, the vigil of Pentecost, in the audience hall at the Vatican. The seven thousand children belonged to the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood.

This time there were three questions. They were gathered ahead of time together with others, exactly as is done for with the journalists on the papal journeys. The pope's staff make the initial selection. But it is Benedict XVI himself who makes the final pick, choosing the questions he wants to answer.

The complete transcript of the question-and-answer - presented below - reveals the typical traits of the current pope's personality. Effectiveness in capturing attention. Simplicity of language. The clarity of the things said. Deep optimism. Sincerity.

The listener intuits that Benedict XVI doesn't have any hidden meanings. Nor does he insinuate or indulge in doubts. He instills certainties - not his own, but those he himself has received from on high.

Defying the current clichés, Pope Ratzinger is a great communicator. And he is at his best when he talks with children.

---

Chiesa is a wonderful source on all things Catholic in Europe. It is skillfully edited by Sandro Magister. SANDRO MAGISTER was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1943, in the town of Busto Arsizio in the archdiocese of Milan. The following day he was baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife’s name is Anna, and he has two daughters, Sara and Marta. He lives in Rome.