The Pope was forced to stay away from the University of Rome last week, after the usual suspects declared him unworthy of freedom of speech. No doubt to their amazement, many intellectuals have condemned the censorship and rallied to the Pope’s side. As they should; he’s a first-class intellectual, and quite aside from whether one is Catholic, his words are worth serious attention. I think the Regensberg speech, in which he challenged Islam to embrace the role of Reason, as the Catholic Church has, will be remembered as a major contribution to the current war.

So I was delighted to get an email from an Italian friend about what happened yesterday in St. Peter’s Square. He got quite a turnout:

Yesterday an estimated 200,000 people crammed into St Peter’s Square, in response to an invitation from Cardinal Ruini to come and express their sympathy, respect and love for the Pontiff, after the attempt to heap ridicule on him at La Sapienza. The agnostic élite, who were actually expecting praise and applause for their ant-Catholic stance, are reeling and bewildered. Praise God, they can’t fathom what on earth can have gone wrong .

Not so far below the surface of the bigots who act in the name of political correctness, there is a principled response under way. If only there were more like Benedict, to confront these know-nothings with dignity and courage, the process would move even faster than it is.