Is the Pope Catholic?

I recall when Germany's Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to the Papalcy last year, many progressives in my sphere of acquaintance were horrified. Here was a conservative-minded Pope! Was he a man who wouldn't budge on matters of "right to life," "euthanasia," "same sex marriage" or any other twist-of-scripture to suit our modern lifestyles?

Catherine Pepinster's commentary, in the Feb. 4th edition of London's The Guardian, explains Ratzinger has chosen to cut to the heart of the matter in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is love). Here, he celebrates God's unconditional love and human love, including the joyful intimacy of human sexual love, citing the Song of Songs:

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for thy love is better than wine." It is a form of love which can lead us to beyond ourselves, and after the first intoxication goes on to the seek the good of the beloved. It is ready for renunciation and sacrifice. It reflects the mystical encounter between humanity and God.

But with a warning against the commodification of sex and the defilement of the human body, reminding us that we were born, instead, for "relationship."

This commodification of sex happens all around us, and is particularly apparent in the treatment of women and their bodies: the number of men using prostitutes is at an all-time high; the trafficking of women from poorer developing and eastern European countries to the west is one of the most dismal growth industries of our time; the female form continues to be exploited to sell goods; the sexiness of a woman remains a priority for onscreen TV work; tabloid papers continue to focus on women's sexual prowess in their promotion of particular celebrities; teenage girls and young women feel under continual pressure to dress in a highly sexual way and be sexual.
Yet while women among themselves express grave disquiet about this, particularly its impact on their daughters, few public figures, other than the Pope, raise their voices in protest.