U.S. trip softens pope's image

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

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.