Pope De-mythologizes Nativity?

Presumably before Christmas, Pope Benedict XVI is coming out with a new book about the infancy of Jesus.  In the Vatican's pre-publication attempt to promote Jesus of Nazareth - The Infancy Narratives, it is leaking details suggesting that the Pope is de-mythologizing the Nativity story

It seems the Pope has discovered that a sixth century monk made a mistake and placed the birth of Jesus either two year too soon or two years too late. In addition, the Pope is going to tell us there were no cattle ( cows, donkeys, sheep, whatever) at the nativity. And finally, he is going to tell us that there were no angels singing the Lord's praise  when Jesus was born.

Well, well, well! Does anyone care whether Jesus was born two year earlier or later?  We are happy to know that he was born in the Middle East at about the time Herod was King of Judea. Most Catholics never thought there were cattle looking on as Mary gave birth. We knew these were accouterments that St. Francis of Assisi added to the Nativity scene, but they were a nice touch and we like to envision them as being there. And as for Angels descending from heaven to sing as Jesus was born, most Catholics stopped believing that at about the same time as they learned the truth about Santa Claus.

Give us a little credit, Pope Benedict XVI. We don't need the Pope in Rome to clear that up for us.

In fact, Pope Benedict, that is your problem. You continue to treat Catholics as uninformed children who need you to tell us what to think.

And even more disconcerting than that is that you, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, apparently think these details are important. You obviously are reading the Gospels as exact literal, historical accounts of what happened when Jesus was born. And quite frankly, Your Holiness, your preoccupation with these details is a little scary.

The religious writing of the Middle East was a marvelous method of sharing knowledge in an entertaining and symbolic narrative. The message was the thing; the details were never intended to be literal. So, why are you fixating on the details?

We, Catholics and  other Christians, got the message. But we might also like the touch of St. Francis in placing animals at the Nativity. We don't actually believe they were there, but we like the symbolism of it.