In January 2008, Pope Benedict XVI was invited by one of Italy’s (if not the world’s) leading universities, La Sapienza Università di Roma, to give the keynote address – the lectio magistralis – at the ceremony for the inauguration of the academic year. Such a ceremony in continental universities is on a par with graduation ceremonies in importance, steeped in tradition, and a reminder of the great gift that is the pursuit of knowledge bequeathed to us by the Western world’s Christian heritage.