This does explain what he was doing but did the Pope also strip away Christ when he did this? No, I am trying trying to stir up stuff, I am sincerely trying to understand what he did.
To me the Pope statement is compromising rather than condescending. I can’t image Paul ever telling the Greeks that their faith in Apollo would help them. I could see Paul telling the Muslim, “Say, you hold that Jesus was a prophet and that’s an interesting view. But let’s think about this for a moment...”
Christians have gone too far over the ecumenical side.