Richard Dawkins, a British scientist and declared atheist, resorted  to puerile calumny in a Twitter statement referring to Pope Benedict's recent announcement that he would retire at the end of February.

Dawkins' statement beggars belief. How can an otherwise intelligent and urbane man stoop so low?

Spero News editor Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat, who also worked as a democracy advocate and election observer in Latin America. He is also a freelance translator.