I appreciate your comments, and I understand the purpose and benefits of meeting with the church. I also understand the fact that it may be dangerous to go solo. However, this does not seem to be the message the Pope is giving. His pivotal point is that one cannot have a relationship with Christ without the "mediation of the Church." Now the purpose of the Church is not mediation, is it? There is some kind of erroneous and fallible thinking there!
I'm afraid you don't actually understand the purpose of the Church. You seem to be more focused on the one who delivers the message (the Pope) rather on what he is saying. For me, it wouldn't make no difference if it was the Pope that said it, an orthodox patriarch, a protestant pastor or ...an user from CC.
The truth and reality of the Church is linked to the Incarnation of the Word.
The Incarnation of the Word doesn't represent for the Church a supernatural, abstract event that happened in history, an event about which you talk, you sing, you preach, but that hasn't any serious implication on the human life. NO!
Through the incarnation, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been offered life. And this life is being realized through the unity of the Church (the Body of Christ).
We have become brothers of Jesus Christ and we perfect ourselves in His Body; we united with Him just as the body is united with the head (read my signature).
Jesus Christ unites in His person the divine nature and the human nature; so, this means that God and humanity share in Jesus Christ a common way of existence; and this way of existence is unity, communion of love between persons and God ("I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me - so that they may be brought to complete unity.")
This unity and communion of love to which we are called is the way of existence of the Holy Trinity (see may signature, again).
I am not sure if I brought more light or more obscurity to my previous comment about the reality of the Church.
The thing is, the Pope was right. You may argue that the catholic church is not the church and so on. That's another thing. Also, I am sure that the Pope spoke for catholics who prefer to "live" their faith isolated from the community, and not for protestants.