Pope - political puppeteer?

Here's a very interesting take on the Pope's recent, controversial speech:
http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=275704 (This google link avoids registration. Alternatively, you could try BugMeNot.)

The article presents the pope as a very astute political player, whose words were chosen not only to shore up support from the Catholic base in Europe and the US, but also draw out a positive response from Islamic leadership towards rationalism instead of extremism, after the expected Muslim backlash.