Ex ore infantium

Last Saturday Pope Benedict met with children who had made their First Holy Communion. At the end of the encounter they asked him some very basic and interesting questions, and he answered them, quite impromptu. (The text is on the Vatican website in Italian; I have a translation of it which I would be glad to e-mail to anyone interested.) This was a delightful episode. The Pope had clearly not prepared his replies. His Italian was inelegant and repetitious, but how wonderful to hear the Pope speak to the children, himself a child! How wonderful to hear the great theologian trying to express great thoughts in simple language, and being generally successful (although he couldn't resist a few rather weighty terms). I especially liked his reply to the question of whether we should go to confession before every communion, even when we always have the same sins. The Pope laughed heartily. Then he replied in two points. (The professor speaks -- students like their information in point form!) Firstly, you only have to confess if you are in mortal sin. (Yes, the Pope used the word when speaking to the bambini.) But secondly, regular confession is very useful. Now here's the bit I really liked. We clean our houses once a week to keep them in good order, even if the dust is always the same; likewise, regular confession keeps our souls in good order, even if we always have the same sins. This exchange with the children, like nothing else, brought out how beautiful a man our new Pope is, how humble, how relaxed, how accessible, and how 100% Catholic! Viva il Papa!