Shows a great lack of discernment, not to mention hygiene.
Regarding the current pope, I cheered his earlier rebuttal of Islam. Sadly, he backslid and very nearly recanted his earlier correct appraisal of a demented philosophy and the evil fruit it produces.
What can I say? I don't get a lot of European customs and traditions either.
Benedict's "I'm sorry that you took my words wrong and got offended, I just said ya'll weren't too rational and now you are killing people to prove you are" alleged apology doesn't constitute a back slide in my book. Neither did his trip to Turkey. Then again, no matter how big the mistake, if you hand it to the Lord, He can bring good out of it.
Actually, I think JPII, while wonderful in many ways, went completely overboard on his "ecumenical" acts. These ranged from the appalling events at the "interfaith fest" at Assisi to the kissing of the Koran. I honestly don't know what he could have been thinking when he did or approved these things, but I think much of it may have had to do with the fact that he was elderly, sick and probably being given a lot of things through his handlers. And who knows what their agenda was?
The new Pope has corrected many of these things. Assisi, for instance, has been taken out of the hands of its arrangers and the city of Assisi has a new bishop. And BXVI was the first modern person to confront Islam honestly. He didn't back down; he simply gave them a chance to explain themselves and think about it. He is a teacher, and a teacher leads his pupils with alternate kicks and carrots.
We shall see if his teaching has any result or not. Personally, I think if it does, it will only be in the conversion of individual Muslims and not in any change to Islam itself, which has been violent and irrational for 1400 years and isn't about to change now.
Did you know that the subject of the Pope's Lenten retreat for this year is the Book of Revelations, and that Soloviev's vision of the Antichrist is going to be the subject of one of the days of the retreat? It is being preached by Cardinal Biffi, who has already written on the Antichrist and the end of the world. So maybe there are some things going on that we don't know about.