Even the Boston Globe was impressed! After the requisite detour through Hitler youth and Panzer-Kardinal, today’s editorial ends rather (for the Globe) upbeat:

Many Americans weren’t quite sure what to make of this pope. In 2005, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he arrived with heavy baggage, including a compulsory stint with the Hitler Youth more than six decades earlier. A critic of modernity, he was known as the “battle tank cardinal” who had little use for the soft stops on the church organ. But his visit to New York revealed a compassionate leader who prayed for an end to hatred at the site of the Sept. 11 attack; stressed unity while making the first papal visit to a Jewish house of worship in the United States; and made people happy while celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium.

It’s not every visitor who stays less than a week and leaves his hosts thinking about a kingdom of justice and peace.

P.S. I have heard second-hand reports that during his trip the Pope quietly visited the ailing Cardinal Avery Dulles at Fordham. Can anyone confirm this?Update:Alan Mitchell’s comment below deserves to be featured in the post:Fr. Imbelli:I can confirm that Cardinal Dulles was taken by car from Fordham to Dunwoodie, where he had a private meeting with Pope Benedict. Here is a link to the Fordham web page with the information:http://www.fordham.edu/Campus_Resources/Public_Affairs/topstories_1210…