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"Can’t say that his lack of tact matters to me as much as the issue itself matters to me, though."

For me this is more than a simple issue of tact, it is a matter of personal maturity and character. It is one thing to jump into the sandbox with other politicians who constantly do the same thing. I do not like this either, but am a little more forgiving. It is a whole different matter to engage in such childish behavior with a serious moral figure like the Pope, who never would stoop to such nonsense.

Sorry, but I fail to see what is “childish” and especially “nonsensical” about it. The immigration issue is clearly not nonsense. And regardless of what you think of the Pope — whether you regard him as your divinely anointed leader or as just another human — the fact is that the Church has been pushing their agenda on this issue, and Tancredo is not willing to stand idly by while it happens.

There was quite a bit of anticipation and expectation from the Hispanic community, and indeed from his own Hispanic Cardinals and Archbishops, as to the whether the Pope would address the “plight of undocumented workers.” There were many news articles prior to his visit that speculated on what the Pope would say on the subject.

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc04d3801d04b5574459878a6b83361f
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-livoic115645806apr11,0,704875.story
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/shared/news/POPE_HISPANICS13_AUS.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

There are more, similar articles on the Net.

Also, a commentary titled “The Political Pope” that is worth reading:
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=andersonb&date=080418

Finally, breaking with Vatican tradition, this time the Pope’s sermons were delivered in both English and Spanish.

You may think that the Pope is above criticism on this issue, because he is the Pope — and that any criticism of the Church’s agenda is “childish” and “nonsensical” — but the Pope needs to butt out on this issue, period.