Italians throng Vatican to support Pope silenced by Rome university

(Jan. 21, 2008) Tens of thousands of students, politicians and ordinary Romans thronged the Vatican on Sunday in a major show of sympathy for Pope Benedict after protests led him to cancel a speech at Rome's top university last wee. "Thank you all for this show of solidarity," a smiling Pope told the cheering, clapping crowds who filled St. Peter's Square. An estimated 200,000 people waved banners denouncing the "censorship" imposed by some members of Rome’s La Sapienza University. The Pope addressed the massive crowd during his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Pope Benedict called off a speech at Sapienza scheduled for Thursday after a small group staged protests and sit-ins against what they called his stand against science. The university was founded by a pope more than 700 years ago. The episode provoked accusations of censorship in the Roman Catholic country. Even critics of the Church, like leftist Nobel laureate Dario Fo, defended the Pope's right to free speech. Recalling his "long years" as a theology professor, Benedict told the crowd: "I encourage all of you dear university students to always respect the opinions of others and to seek, with a liberal and responsible spirit, truth and righteousness." Since his election in 2005, the Pontiff has fought what he sees as efforts to restrict the voice of the Church in the public sphere, particularly in Europe. But his stand on issues like abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia has led critics in Italy to accuse him of meddling in politics. The protesters at La Sapienza misinterpreted the German Pope’s views on science, saying a speech of his in 1990 as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger showed he would have favoured the Church's 17th century heresy trial against Galileo.
Before reciting the 'Angelus' prayer, Pope Benedict drew the attention of the crowd to the current Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan 18-25. He said the Church's evangelizing mission moves along the path of ecumenism, the path of unity of faith, of evangelical witness and authentic fraternity. "Prayer, conversion of heart and the reinforcement of the bonds of communion form the essence of this spiritual movement that we hope will soon lead the disciples of Christ to celebrate the Eucharist together, the manifestation of their full unity," he added.