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1. This is sad, but not unexpected.
   The Dalai Lama projects an image of love and compassion while the Pope, despite his public words of goodwill, is seen as controlling and judgmental.

   Posted By: Kevin Langley

2. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
   Lk 6:26

   Posted By: Fr. Arthur Givney

3. If the Pope is so unpopular, that means he is doing a good job .
   Also when does outside media ever show the church in a good light? we expect to be ridiculed; it is part of our heritage.

   Posted By:  robert carrucan

4. How can the media report positively with all the bad news in our church? Blaming the media for bad reporting is not fixing the problem - it is a cop-out! Surely we all know what the solution is!

   Posted By: Peter M

5. The bearer of the truth will always face the same fate as Jesus. Well done Pope Benedict XVI you are doing a magnificent job!

   Posted By: David Rabe

6. What does Kevin mean by saying that the pope 'is seen as controlling and judgmental'.
   By whom, exactly? People who never pay him the basic respect of trying to look beyond crude sterotypes?
   His teaching and preaching are brilliant and will, I suspect, look far better in the light of history than the 'pub bores' (to borrow a phrase from Rowan Williams) who vilify him.

   Posted By: Peter

7. It would be interesting to see the results of a similar poll conducted in the first century about Jesus. I doubt they'd be very different.

   Posted By: David Kennedy

8. The minions of the enemy who control the means of communication are working feverishly to obfuscate the teachings of this Pope because he is truly a great teacher of the faith who teaches the truth with charity and a clarity that calls one to draw closer to Jesus.
   They see the Pope as one who can tear asunder all their scams, lies and webs they have laid out to trap the unawares who listens to them without thinking and lacking in perspective.

   Posted By: Luciano

9. As someone commented, 'If the Pope is so unpopular, that means he is doing a good job.'
   I think there is some truth to this. After all, true Catholic dogma is not as warm and fuzzy as many in the world would like.
   I wonder what this means when considering the pontificate of John Paul II. He was very popular in the world.

   Posted By: Robert Miller

10. When we deal with issues of morality, people get defensive, at least instinctively when they are called out to be acting immorally, especially when there is doubt or when they are wrong, because people can only choose the good (even if that is a small, narrow good that does not account for the common good) which contradicts their concept of themselves as a 'good person'.
    When a person is both sure they are doing the good thing, and are, accusations do not touch their heart, and so they don't lash out, nor feel the need to protect themselves violently from what would be felt as a real threat (of just condemnation and damnation of their person).
    The Pope speaks unequivocally on issues of morality that do touch people's heart. He also has an authority that no one else on earth has, that is felt whether a person be Catholic or no.
    Whilst he does not judge people (regarding condemnation/ justification, even in the case of excommunication), people either misplace his judgement as targeted at their person and/ or the words he speaks of their own delineate the Way of Truth from the way of falsehood, from which place a person may judge their own person, even for getting it wrong, be it not so culpably.
    The Dalai Lama does not speak so definitively as regards right and wrong, and he does not have the credible authority of office. (Imagine him speaking of morality in light of reincarnation. He'd be ignored).

    Posted By: Martin

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