Playing center field: Pope Benedict

The Dalai Lama is traveling across the U.S. at the same time Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the East Coast. Perhaps the two most recognizable religious figures in the world nearly crossed paths in this foreign land.

We forget that it is a foreign land to the rest of the world. True, American culture is ubiquitous. But these two spiritual leaders come from different worlds. The Dalai Lama descends from the reincarnated line of spiritual and temporal leaders of the Tibetan people. Although the pope heads the Western church (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, for example), the U.S. church is a different animal altogether. The global Roman Catholic Church is considerably more ethnically diverse -- and theologically and politically conservative -- than what is often associated with U.S. Catholicism. And with all due respect to the poor within our borders, even the lower and middle economic classes in this country are rich by much of the world's standards.

Our media coverage of the visits of His Holiness and the Holy Father help interpret these leaders' views to us Americans. I wonder what interpretations they take back to the larger world of their visits here.

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Link to Steve's appearance on KSTP-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul discussing the pope's visit.

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(Above: Doug Mills/New York Times photo of Pope Benedict XVI celebrating Mass at the Washington Nationals' new ballpark.)