The importance of public relations in a touchy piece of real estate

A lot of people seem to think that public relations is just a way of "spinning" information to favor your side, your cause or your organization. When public relations is misused, it becomes a mere exercise in rearranging facts to accomodate your position. But public relations at its core is about consideration for others while also influencing them through a well-articulated message.
In Pope Benedict XVI's four years as the Bishop of Rome, he has not taken easily to his role as chief spokesman for the Catholic Church. He reminds me of the hyper-intelligent but socially awkward people you sometimes see in academia.
The news media have reported on a couple of missteps during his visit this week to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Many Jews have expressed disappointment that he failed to boldly condemn the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust while visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel or reference his unwilling registration in the Hitler Youth in his homeland of Germany. Others have called his visit to Bethlehem today to give moral support to the region's dwindling Christian community as too little, too late. Palestinians have wanted him to prod Israel to move on a deal that would establish a Palestinian state.
Benedict, who has undermined his own message with public relations pitfalls such as welcoming a Holocaust-denying bishop back into the fold, could not have escaped this visit to the Middle East without criticism from some side in that volatile region with an intractable problem.