Eppur si muove - carn the lions!

or 500 000 selon les organisateurs, 20 selon la police

I've been doing my best to avoid the Ratzinger-Jugend, but the dark forces of bureaucracy are being as unhelpful as ever. Today's missive from the university administration, which usually delights in taking three weeks to open an envelope:

We have today been advised that the NSW Police felt it was too dangerous for a large number of pilgrims to travel from Victoria Park to St John’s along Parramatta Road or City Road. We are, therefore, allowing this event to cross through the University.

We are very sorry for the necessarily short notice but we anticipate that all disruption to normal movement across Campus will over by 5.00pm today and appreciate your patience and co-operation during this time.

Universities, in the opinion of this humble hippopotamus, should be places for learning and the development of critical thought - and questions of free expression aside, not for imposing fines for stating that the Earth is round or handing out contraceptives to randy young acolytes. Back in January, protests by staff and students at La Sapienza in Rome led the man who thought Galileo's treatment was "fair and just" to abandon his attempt to spread the Word to the Science faculty.

We must do things differently at the cloaca orbis terrarum, or perhaps the "necessarily short notice" had something to do with it.