He'll Be Here All Week. (Tip Your Waitress.)

Yet another reason to like Pope Benedict:

During the first break, Lindbeck introduced me to Cardinal Ratzinger. The conversation went something like this: Lindbeck said, "Your eminence, I would like to introduce to you Cathleen Kaveny, a Catholic studying moral theology at Yale." I smiled and said hello. Ratzinger smiled at me and responded, "A Catholic studying moral theology at Yale? You’d better be careful or you’ll have the Congregation after you." I couldn't believe my ears. After all, I had just heard, while wide awake, what Cardinal Ratzinger--the Grand Inquisitor--would say to me in a nightmare, which naturally would also include a stake, a match, a heap of kindling, and a long, flowing white dress (à la Cecil B. De Mille’s The Story of Joan of Arc). He was joking, of course, as I realized almost immediately. Nonetheless, my face must have turned as pale as Joan’s dress. The cardinal quickly understood the problem: "With whom are you studying?" he asked. And not quite able to speak again, I pointed mutely to Lindbeck. Ratzinger said, "Well, then, that’s all right...you’re in good hands."

Ahh, your then-eminence, you know us all too well. Seriously, you have to like a guy who can joke about his own terrifying reputation.

(link via Baptized Pagan)