” <=:-)”, a friend suggests to me, is likely the papal smiley face—-the Pope smiling with his mitre on.

Zenit reports on Papal text-messaging:

Benedict XVI is weaving together a mini-catechesis with a medium nearly any young person can relate to — cell phone text messages.

The Friday morning local time message to Youth Day pilgrims was a call to Christian love. “The spirit impels us 4ward 2wards others; the fire of his love makes us missionaries of God’s charity. See u tomorrow nite - BXVI,” it read.

Before the Pope’s boat-a-cade reached Sydney Harbor Thursday afternoon local time for his official arrival to World Youth Day, the Holy Father sent his third text message. That one said, “The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of salvation history: let him write your life-history 2 - BXVI.”