Hardly a "pastoral" approach is it -- for the Pope to write documents that no one can read? Isn't it ironic that in the days before the Church became "pastoral," the popes wrote in plain English (translated from the Latin of course) that anyone could read and understand.
even the MOST conservative theologian I know has mentioned, frequently, that the Church has often, and successfully, "baptized" non-Catholic concepts for Her own, and better, use.
This is easily and frequently misunderstood. There are natural goods which can be put to a supernatural purpose. But something which is inherently bad can never be "baptized." The Church has never taken the tradition of temple prostitutes and "baptized" it. Nor can it take a false and pernicious philosophy like Hegel's and baptize it. Aristotle outlined the basic principles of logic and reason which are natural goods and in no way contradictory to divine revelation.
Thus, a reconciliation of Hegel to Aquinas is not, in itself, some sort of launch into Protestantism
No, it's much worse than that. It's a launch into the post-modern world materialism, skepticism, and ultimately atheism.
the Pope is a fairly smart guy, and he is informed by REALLY good sources from above
It is not Catholicism to believe that the pope receives direct divine inspiration. No one ever said the pope was Delphic oracle. His inspiration should come from Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium, just like all other Catholics. The most dangerous possible aberration most likely to destroy the Catholic faith in the shortest possible time is to believe that the pope is some sort of medium for transmitting messages from heaven.
if his attempted reconciliation does not work, the Faith has not been compromised.
I see the faith compromised all around me. The new method is not to come right out and to make heretical declarations like Luther or Calvin. The more sophisticated method is to effect a reconciliation between truth and error, without ever directly denying the truth.
It was worth reading the previous 78 posts to get to your fine distillation.