Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States tomorrow for a six-day tour of the country, the first of his papacy. Pope Benedict will inevitably draw comparisons to his predecessor, the media savvy John Paul II. But Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University (and contributor to The Chronicle Review), says that the more compelling comparison is between Benedict XVI and the man he was on the eve of his election as pope three years ago.

Writing on the op-ed page of USA Today, Prothero traces Benedict's evolution from being regarded as "God's Rottweiler" to the pope who offered his first two encyclicals on love and hope -- "hardly the stuff of a Rottweiler." Prothero says that Benedict's dual nature reflects how Roman Catholicism is a tale of two faiths.

On the one hand there are the traditionalist Catholics in Africa, Asia and Latin America who affirm orthodox Catholic teachings opposing artificial birth control, abortion and female priests. On the other hand, there are the modernist Catholics in the USA and Europe who criticize such teachings, who speak of reason and science with as much ease as faith and doctrine, who see religious diversity as inescapable and perhaps even good. 

For more on how Catholic educators in America are anticipating Benedict's visit, check out a package of stories that ran in The Chronicle last week. (Benedict is scheduled to address more than 200 presidents of Catholic colleges and universities and other key Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America.)

Also, be sure to read critic at large Carlin Romano's tough examination of Benedict's youth in Nazi Germany.