Through contacts, past trips, pope has finger on pulse of U.S. church

Published: 2008-02-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States this spring, he will not be stepping into the unknown. Through his many personal contacts with American church leaders and papal diplomats, his past trips to the U.S. and his ability to remember much of what he hears and reads, Pope Benedict has his finger firmly on the pulse of the church in the United States. Bishops from around the world coming to Rome consistently have expressed awe and admiration for the pope's remarkable depth of knowledge, his familiarity with everyday events worldwide, and his recollection of minute or even obscure facts and past events. "He has always been amazingly well-informed on the U.S.," said U.S. Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, who studied under the future pope in the 1970s.

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