Post by Bozur on Jan 11, 2007 1:31:58 GMT -5
Pope Says Mankind, Despite Its Advances, Still Needs God
Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times
Women in St. Peter’s Square listened to the pope’s Christmas address Monday. Benedict XVI urged people not to forget the less fortunate.
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By REUTERS
Published: December 26, 2006
VATICAN CITY, Dec. 25 (Reuters) — Mankind, which has reached other planets and decoded the genetic instructions for life, should not presume it can live without God, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Christmas address on Monday.
Osservatore Romano/Agence France-Presse/
Pope Benedict XVI during his Christmas address today on the main balcony of St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican.
In an age of unbridled consumerism, he said, it was shameful that many people remained deaf to the “heart-rending cry” of those dying of hunger, thirst, disease, poverty, war and terrorism.
“Does a savior still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium?” he asked in his “Urbi et Orbi” message to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, which is broadcast live to millions in 40 countries.
“Is a savior still needed by a humanity that has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe, for a humanity that knows no limits in its pursuit of nature’s secrets and that has succeeded even in deciphering the marvelous codes of the human genome?” he asked.
The pope appealed for peace and justice in the Middle East, an end to the brutal violence in Iraq and to the fratricidal conflict in Darfur and other parts of Africa, and expressed his hope for “a democratic Lebanon.”
In a separate, written message to the small Christian communities of the Middle East, the pope said he hoped to visit the Holy Land.
Marking the second Christmas season of his pontificate, he said that while 21st-century man appeared to be a master of his own destiny, “perhaps he needs a savior all the more” because much of humanity was suffering.
“Some people remain enslaved, exploited and stripped of their dignity; others are victims of racial and religious hatred, hampered by intolerance and discrimination, and by political interference and physical or moral coercion with regard to the free profession of their faith,” he said.
“Others see their own bodies and those of their dear ones, particularly their children, maimed by weaponry, by terrorism and by all sorts of violence, at a time when everyone invokes and acclaims progress, solidarity and peace for all.”
Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times
Women in St. Peter’s Square listened to the pope’s Christmas address Monday. Benedict XVI urged people not to forget the less fortunate.
Article Tools Sponsored By
By REUTERS
Published: December 26, 2006
VATICAN CITY, Dec. 25 (Reuters) — Mankind, which has reached other planets and decoded the genetic instructions for life, should not presume it can live without God, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Christmas address on Monday.
Osservatore Romano/Agence France-Presse/
Pope Benedict XVI during his Christmas address today on the main balcony of St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican.
In an age of unbridled consumerism, he said, it was shameful that many people remained deaf to the “heart-rending cry” of those dying of hunger, thirst, disease, poverty, war and terrorism.
“Does a savior still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium?” he asked in his “Urbi et Orbi” message to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, which is broadcast live to millions in 40 countries.
“Is a savior still needed by a humanity that has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe, for a humanity that knows no limits in its pursuit of nature’s secrets and that has succeeded even in deciphering the marvelous codes of the human genome?” he asked.
The pope appealed for peace and justice in the Middle East, an end to the brutal violence in Iraq and to the fratricidal conflict in Darfur and other parts of Africa, and expressed his hope for “a democratic Lebanon.”
In a separate, written message to the small Christian communities of the Middle East, the pope said he hoped to visit the Holy Land.
Marking the second Christmas season of his pontificate, he said that while 21st-century man appeared to be a master of his own destiny, “perhaps he needs a savior all the more” because much of humanity was suffering.
“Some people remain enslaved, exploited and stripped of their dignity; others are victims of racial and religious hatred, hampered by intolerance and discrimination, and by political interference and physical or moral coercion with regard to the free profession of their faith,” he said.
“Others see their own bodies and those of their dear ones, particularly their children, maimed by weaponry, by terrorism and by all sorts of violence, at a time when everyone invokes and acclaims progress, solidarity and peace for all.”