Elementary school kids show up CUA Students how it's done

• Catholic Students Seek Papal Connection, y Daniela Deane and William Wan Washington Post April 18, 2008:

  As Pope Benedict delivered a message about academic freedom at American Catholic colleges yesterday, many students said they didn't relate to him as well as they did to his charismatic predecessor but were open to his message and excited to see him. ...

  "I don't think he is connecting too well with American youth, not like JP2. I don't feel a connection with him yet," said Matthew Gittens, 21, a history major from Boston, who said he grew up following John Paul II in a deeply Catholic family.

  "I still feel like I don't completely know what he's all about," agreed Brian Freiberger, 21, a business major from New Jersey.

• Area Catholics reflect on Pope's visit, Mass, by Elaine Gaston and Steve Palisin. Myrtle Beach Online April 18, 2008:

  Students at St. Michael's wished they could experience the pope in person, but seeing him live on the computer was still exciting. Shawn Morris, 11, sat in front of a computer monitor with a few other students.

  "It's pretty cool to get to see in your lifetime, for him to be in the United States where you can see him on TV," he said. "I remember sitting in the old library here at school and watching the pope being elected."

  Eleven-year-old Mary Catherine Merschat said she hoped one day to meet the pope face to face, but watching him on the Internet was something she said she'll never forget.

  "I think he's very interesting and wise," Mary Catherine said.

  "I'd like to see him one day. It will be something I'd share with my children and tell them about."

  Sister Roberta Thoen, principal at St. Michael's Catholic School, said many of the children who tuned in Thursday have followed the pope's rise, beginning with the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005 and Joseph Ratzinger's election later that month.

  "I think it helps them learn about their own church, that we need good moral leaders," Thoen said. "They learn by watching and hearing the Holy Father. ... The little children are our hope."

It's a sad day when 20 year old college students who "can't relate" or "don't know what [the pope] is all about" are shown up by elementary school kids in their enthusiasm for learning about the Holy Father.

Meanwhile, I know 25,000 Catholic youth and seminarians who might dispute the notion that Benedict "isn't connecting too well."

P.S. The Washington Post article better reveals the prejudices of its authors rather than an accurate reflection of CUA; judging by this report of the Pope's enthusiastic reception by CUA students by Elizabeth Scalia, the majority of them responded well. Leave it to the mainstream press to search out the nay-sayers.