It looks like the address has more than a dozen substantive paragraphs and each one makes at least one important point.

Here are three points that I found to be particularly strong…

1. (Seems to be inspired by what is happening in the Middle East with the Israeli Palestinian conflict.) “The victims of hardship and despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to the call to violence, and they can then become violators of peace.”

2. (Seems to be inspired by the Pope’s Nazi Germany experience.) “Every State has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made. If States are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments. The action of the international community and its institutions, provided that it respects the principles undergirding the international order, should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty. On the contrary, it is indifference or failure to intervene that do the real damage. What is needed is a deeper search for ways of pre-empting and managing conflicts by exploring every possible diplomatic avenue, and giving attention and encouragement to even the faintest sign of dialogue or desire for reconciliation.”

3. (The Pope’s words of caution about secular U.S., secular Europe, and Muslim theocracies….freedom of religion vs. freedom from religion.)

“It is inconceivable, then, that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves – their faith – in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one’s rights. The rights associated with religion are all the more in need of protection if they are considered to clash with a prevailing secular ideology or with majority religious positions of an exclusive nature. The full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to the free exercise of worship, but has to give due consideration to the public dimension of religion, and hence to the possibility of believers playing their part in building the social order. Indeed, they actually do so, for example through their influential and generous involvement in a vast network of initiatives which extend from Universities, scientific institutions and schools to health care agencies and charitable organizations in the service of the poorest and most marginalized. Refusal to recognize the contribution to society that is rooted in the religious dimension and in the quest for the Absolute – by its nature, expressing communion between persons – would effectively privilege an individualistic approach, and would fragment the unity of the person.”

Pluralistic societies must allow side by side worship for all. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Bhuddist, etc. The Pope’s message speaks directly to the intollerant practitioners of faith…I think about the unfortunate Iraq citizens that are being wiped out by genocide based on their faith life. All groups (Christian, Shiite, Suni, Jewish, and Bhuddist) have had members murdered because of their religious affiliation. We must all work together to live by the “Golden Rule” another point made by the Pope.

These points are only the tip of the iceberg for the Pope’s address. Well Done PB XVI!!!

He has set the bar high….as he should!!!

The solutions for these challenges are likely going to come from grass roots efforts rather than the top levels of governments with big egos.