At 8am outside Westminster Roman Catholic cathedral, in the cold, slanting light of a traffic-free Victoria Street, pilgrims gathered to catch a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n
A group of teenage pilgrims from Salford \u201d\u201d the girls giggling, as usual, the boys shy, as usual \u201d\u201d tried to explain why they were there. He is like a grandad, I suggest.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot like my grandad!\u201d\u009d says one girl: \u201cHe\u2019s Irish!\u201d\u009d She pauses, suddenly thoughtful. \u201cBut yes, he is like the type of grandad who would go out and buy you the best bike.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
And that, in a nutshell, is what happened last week. Joseph Ratzinger, 265th successor to Christ\u2019s apostle Peter, scorned as \u201cevil\u201d\u009d and \u201cGod\u2019s rottweiler\u201d\u009d, and as the scourge of gays and women priests and the colluder in the cover-up for child-abusing clergy, turned out to be a nice guy.<\/p>\n