Getting To Know Him

100 Days: How the Pope is showing hints of being his own man

It is Day 97. At noon sharp, the light rain that has been falling on the village of Les Combes, high in the Italian Alps, gives way to golden sunshine. Equally punctually, the white-shocked man with an increasingly comfortable smile walks across a small meadow to greet about 8,000 believers. Pope Benedict XVI, officially on a summer "retreat," waves his two-handed wave, sits graciously through a local bishop's introduction and speaks. With three months' practice at this, he no longer steps on applause lines, such as references to his predecessor and a much anticipated trip to Germany. His initial remarks are...

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