Today´s post was going to be about the Basque nationalism Anschluss attempt over neighbour region Navarra. Left some notes at the office (bad luck).

So I´ll use my time to Benedict XVI, who celebrated today his first year at Holy See and as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Aside from my believes, I find him a fascinating character. Presented by sensationalist newspapers as Nazi-friendly in the first few days after his election, we´ve later known that he deserted from Nazi-army, something many didn´t have the courage to do, although they won´t want to remember it now.

He´d been head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith for many years, and thus responsible for keeping the Church´s teachings orthodox. I think many have mixed that with his personality.

During his first year, he has met both with lefebvrians (an ultra-conservative group separated from the Church) and people like the theologian Hans Küng, whose very progresist ideas separate them from Catholic Church. He´s trying non-stop to improve the relationship with China, and is keeping JPII´s efforts to make strong advances in ecumenism.

When many people expected a very theoretical first encyclical, he winds up with one about love, charity, solidarity...

As for personality, he´s been right to be himself, boring as he may look at the beginning. He couldn´t have copied JPII´s charisma. In that aspect, he is a good teacher: has a deep knowledge but conveys it in a very simple way without losing depth. He showed that in WYD in Cologne.

A friend of mine told me something that makes all that all the more precious: he´s not used to that many people, he´s shy and quite afraid of it. As a matter of fact, she (who was quite near him a couple of weeks ago) said that he "carries popularity like a cross, but always with a smile".