The Pope Teaches Civics To American Catholics

I have reviewed the Pope's speeches and I am overwhelmed how much time Pope Benedict spent on basically Catholics in the Public square. It was not just on the White House lawn. The National Review has a good article on this at Dictatorship of Relativism-The pope bears important truths about the roots of our experiment in liberty.

The NR article states in part says :
Bush told Benedict, “In a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this ‘dictatorship of relativism.’ ” The phrase is one of Benedict’s signature lines. It was featured in his homily at the 2005 Mass for the papal conclave that so impressed his fellow cardinals before they selected him as pope. Benedict’s point was that if relativists consider any claims of moral truth as inherently oppressive, they feel justified in attempting to muzzle those who make them.

In Benedict’s words, they “seek to subordinate all religions to the super-dogma of relativism.”This tendency is particularly well-advanced in Europe, where the European Union is a relativist superstate hostile to traditional Christian morality. One of Benedict’s missions in his trip here is to provide Americans a common vocabulary for resisting an aggressive secularism. This accounted for the extraordinary spectacle of a pope on the White House lawn — itself unimaginable a century ago — explaining the fundamentals of American civil religion.

It is good to note President Bushes Speech. We might have gotten used to it but in many countries and too many Americans having a President say the following would is soemthing foreign:
Here in America you'll find a nation that welcomes the role of faith in the public square. When our Founders declared our nation's independence, they rested their case on an appeal to the "laws of nature, and of nature's God." We believe in religious liberty. We also believe that a love for freedom and a common moral law are written into every human heart, and that these constitute the firm foundation on which any successful free society must be built.

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Here in America you'll find a nation of prayer. Each day millions of our citizens approach our Maker on bended knee, seeking His grace and giving thanks for the many blessings He bestows upon us. Millions of Americans have been praying for your visit, and millions look forward to praying with you this week.

Father Z interacts well with the above article at NatReview: Rich Lowry - editor on “Dictatorship of Relativism”