Pope Benedict XVI's Strong Effect On Catholic Church

"The Ratzinger Effect: more money, more pilgrims – and lots more Latin" from Times of London reports on the two year papacy of Pope Benedict XVI before he heads off for his traditional summer vacation at Castel Gondolfo.  To the surprise of many, a Vatican that was on the point of bankruptcy, has a surplus, thanks to donations doubling and seven million pilgrims pouring into St. Peter's Basilica. 

Pope Benedict holds traditional stances on such issues as birth control, abortion, homosexuality - and is reviving the traditional Latin mass as an option for the Catholic Church, after having this liturgy tamped down after Vatican II.  He has abandoned the pop music Christmas concert at the Vatican that Pope John Paul II had instituted in favor of tradition.

He has on the other hand, made moves to open relations with China to promote religious freedom there and written an unexpectedly warm first encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" - "God Is Love" - rather than a forbidding document that might have been expected. 

Despite some alleged public misstatements such as the flap at Regensberg over his comments on Islam, many take his strong tough stand on issues and unparalleled reputation as a theologian as a great asset to the Catholic Church at a time when the extremism of radical Islam is threatening to the religious world.