IT is a little ironic that Colette Douglas Home writes about the Pope being incapable of connecting with and understanding the modern world when she – and many other commentators who have aired their opinions on the Catholic Church in recent days – seem trapped in the mindset of the 1960s and 70s ("Was this when RC Church entered the modern world?", The Herald, February 12).

Of course this papacy has been subject to its share of storms, but Benedict's exercise of his ancient office has been both creative and, in some respects, revolutionary.

There are thousands of young people, both in Scotland and elsewhere, who have had their imagination fired and their faith nourished by the teaching and example of Benedict. The hundreds of teenagers who will receive the Pope Benedict Caritas Award in the Clyde Auditorium in June bear eloquent testimony to this. The millions of young people who have flocked to World Youth Days around the globe have listened to what the Pope has to say to them and many of them have embraced his message with a joyful radicalism which puts their elders to shame.

Rev John Bollan,

University Teacher, Creativity Culture & Faith, University of Glasgow, St. Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow.