When Benedict was elevated to the Throne of Peter, we predicted that he would be a "Pope of surprise."

If there have been a number of surprises about the Pope -- if he is a Pope of Surprise -- the main one, thus far, is who he is:

The Pope who was supposed to be so tough and intellectual and hard-bitten turned out to be full of the love he has preached from the beginning. He is a humble man who during his trip to America not only defined himself but also his papacy.

At the very least -- and importantly -- he has designated himself as the Pope who began a real healing of the Church after the greatest wound it has suffered in centuries.

Pope Benedict became big-time after his visit to the U.S. -- calming the rank-and-file and improving the Church's image. Polls show that his "approval" rating rose sharply after the trip -- not to the level of John Paul II, but a very acceptable 61 percent among the general American public and 83 percent with Catholics.

It's not important for a Pope to care about such numbers but it is important that he reassured so many who were disaffected -- on the verge of leaving. And so he defined himself as pastoral, a healer. He shored up the ranks too of the disillusioned devout.

Sixty percent of those now approve his handling of the sex-abuse crisis (versus 39 percent of the general public).

A Pope who largely had been in the shadow of John Paul the Great became identifiable. Perhaps that's a better way of putting it.

A Pope is always big-time. He was not the rigid intellectual many had perceived. He was not a hardliner.

But he was a conservative -- and some even believe he may have put Catholic liberalism to bed.

Did he at least start something like that?

Even those who do not watch Church affairs closely -- and tend to look upon it negatively -- were profoundly pleased with his unexpected and repeated statements -- as well as actions -- as regards the atrocious conduct of many priests who in violating youth violated the trust of the faithful (and attacked the Church at its very foundation).

Satan had indeed come like smoke through a fissure and Pope Benedict found the crack and has begun to cement it up.

Hats off to him -- and to Cardinal O'Malley of Boston for arranging the dramatic meeting with abuse victims.

That defined the papal trip (as opposed to any sweep of rhetoric).

This is not a Pope who has identified himself at the level of John Paul II -- not a Pope who spoke words like "be not afraid" or "the culture of death" (there was no focus on abortion, cloning, or stem cells, nor even the war) -- but one who nonetheless made it clear that he realizes the damage incurred to his Church in North America -- and tending to that Church -- is his first priority.

He made no excuses. He defended no abuser. He told the bishops that their handling of abuse priests had been a huge mistake and said that to their faces.

Problems remain. There are still crises. That the devil is battling and especially this month of Mary may be seen in the fires that plagued a monastery in Arkansas, a Catholic school called Our Lady of the Lake in Texas, and Our Lady of Fatima Basilica in Upstate New York. (There the flames near the shrine's chapel statue "were about two feet above her head, just roaring away," said a frightened janitor.)

Spiritual warfare. With a name like Benedict, is this a spiritual-warfare Pope?

We may yet find out.

Dynamic times. Problems remain. The world in turmoil. Nature roaring.

In the Church itself, there remain those eagerly anticipating a move beyond what the Pope started when he allowed widespread use of the Latin Mass -- who indeed want an end of liberalism, especially in the liturgy.

And conservatives who have followed Benedict's nudges toward more traditional music (his promotion, for instance, of Gregorian chants) were flummoxed when American organizers for the papal Mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington, D.C. kept the tone modernistic.

A liturgy, they asked, or a performance?

"I was hugely disappointed by the liberal approach to the Mass, especially the music!" wrote one viewer, Rita Stoker, St. Louis, Missouri, to grant an idea of our mailbag. "I thought I had read there would be Vatican direction to all U.S. events of the papal visit. Knowing Pope Benedict’s beliefs, which he has written about extensively throughout these past thirty years concerning the liturgy,  I'm  surprised to see such [liberties] taken with the musical direction. At times it seemed to be a dance club. And then, for the people to break out in applause! It was just over the top. We had a great opportunity to show our nation and the world what the Pope's direction is and we blew it!"

Added Sally Monin from Russia, Ohio, "Is it just me or was the music that was sung at today's Papal Mass just plain bad? I felt like I was watching and hearing either a Baptist revival (and there was clapping afterward), a Christian prayer service, an Indian rain dance, or a Mexican fiesta! The only thing I enjoyed hearing was Placido Domingo sing Panis Angelicus and apparently, the Pope enjoyed it too, the way they embraced each other after the fact! I am a cradle Catholic who goes to church every week and holy days, Adoration, and so forth, and I've never heard that kind of music played at any Mass I've ever attended, whether it was in the Southwest, Midwest, or any other part of the USA. I felt it took away from the sacredness of the liturgy. Your comment, please!"

We'll let you express what seems like a widespread view. Let's get back to the Pope's wonderful persona -- which won over so much of the U.S.

There is the shyness. There is the humility.

And actually, such should not have been quite the surprise it was, at least not to us: three years ago, at a retreat in St. Augustine, Florida, a man showed us photos of himself, a friend, and then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Vatican.

Not only had the august cardinal gladly assented to pictures, but originally misunderstood and thought the Americans were asking him to take a photo of them.

And gladly reached for their camera.

He was going to snap photos for tourists.

Reports Ignatius Insight: "While many Americans have a new take on the personality of Benedict XVI after his U.S. trip, Father Joseph Fessio says the Pope revealed nothing new. The Jesuit [who is personal friends with the Pope] explained that the Holy Father 'is transparent, so what you see is who he is. His many concrete acts of thoughtfulness and generosity are unknown to most people, but would not be a surprise to those who have now had the chance to see and hear him.' There has been speculation that the Pope sometimes was negatively portrayed by the press simply because of his many years leading the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, coupled with his shyness."

Kind. Soft-spoken. Gracious.

A "rottweiler" no longer. But certainly not a lap dog, either.

Telling all that the essence of religion -- its definition -- is love.

Clearly, the trip to the U.S. was a healing trip, predicated on that preaching.

There were some hard-liners who took issue with that emphasis, as well as Benedict's call for inter-religious relations and his use of a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt:

"Nowhere in any of these speeches did Pope Benedict indicate that members of false religious are in danger of damnation by clinging to their false sects," wrote one ultra-conservative scribe for a Catholic newspaper in Minnesota. "Nowhere in his speech to the collection of non-Christian religious leaders did he quote Jesus Christ. Instead, he chose to quote the Freemason Franklin D. Roosevelt whose definition of the 'spirit of Faith' comes straight from the Masonic lodge – a generic spirit of religion allegedly common to practitioners of every opposing creed. In all this, as in most other areas, Benedict XVI showed himself to be first and foremost a man of Vatican II."

Such direct attacks on the Pope are unfortunate.

"Post-conciliar Church leaders have succeeded in creating new categories that eclipse true categories established by 2000 years of Catholic teaching," went on this writer. "One such instance is a new dichotomy that distinguishes between the 'Civilization of Love' (the good guys) vs. the 'Culture of Death' (the bad guys). This terminology, and the inter-religious ideology that shapes it, is foreign to our Catholic patrimony. It is a rupture with the past, not continuity."

Again, unfortunate:

At the very foundation of Christianity is exactly the love that the Pope has championed.

But we see that tensions remain. Might such be lessened if the Vatican issues more direct admonishments to decrease the modernism in the American liturgy, as well as purge occultism and homosexual activists from controlling certain dioceses?

It certainly is time to look at organizations such as Catholics for Free Choice, Catholic Rainbow Parents, Rainbow Sash Alliance, Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, Dignity, and Rainbow Families. Some are local issues. Some are larger.

It all needs to be purged. Homilies must be improved. Music must fit with the mystery.

Bring back true dignity.

Bring back true devotion.

One strong suggestion here: reinstitute the prayer to the Archangel Michael, and also that prayer at the end of the liturgy asking for the salvation of Russia. Perhaps it can be amended to include salvation of North America, in that place at the end of Mass.

[resources: The Ratzinger Report]

[see also: Bestseller: a civilization of love, Pontiff 'in pain' over abuse in Ireland, Church criticized for bishops, and The thirty million missing Christians]