Michael Prüller on five years of Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI has been head of the Catholic Church for five years. Michael Prüller takes stock of his pontificate in the daily Die Presse: "According to what standards should he be judged? Belligerent atheists like Richard Dawkins will accuse him of holding to dangerous beliefs. The city of Rome credits him with attracting more pilgrims to the city than ever before. Modern society resents his doggedly refusing to sanction its lifestyles, while conservative Catholics thank him for having done nothing to dilute the message of the Church. In some areas of the world the number of priests and believers has risen, in others it has gone down. Whether that is good or bad and just how much the Pope has to do with it is an open question. As far as popularity goes, it's true the Pope has lost terrain here in Austria, but he's still as popular as John Paul II was during long stretches of his pontificate."

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