During his visit to France, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a large group of "representatives from the world of culture" (only in France! …) at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris.

The papal address (also in English) was a scholarly work tailored for the audience and the venue. It touched on monasticism and Biblical interpretation, and had as its theme "the origins of Western theology and the roots of European culture." It's not light reading but comes as a welcome change from most contemporary work on Europe, which so often takes extreme measures to push religion to the back stage, if not offstage.

The Collège des Bernardins, located on the Left Bank (downhill from the Sorbonne, near the Collège de France and the Institut du Monde Arabe), was established in 1245 for theological study. It filled this role for centuries. At the French revolution, the building was nationalized. It served briefly as a jail, and most recently was a fire house. It has just been restored (beautifully!) and reopened as a Catholic higher education and conference center.