Pope: Church Duty Is to Influence Leaders

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=7f40bc081d023410&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Benedict conceded that Marxist models of dealing with injustice by trying to provide for social needs did help the poor. But he said Marxism was a failed experiment because it could not respond to every human need.

snip...

Benedict stressed that the state alone is responsible for creating a just society, not the church. But he said the church has the right and the duty to be involved in politics by helping "form consciences in political life and stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest."
more...

Another take on the "love message" Reading this is like walking through a landmine... if you can figure out what he said good luck...

[Demeter]

1. And the Catholic Church Works to Thwart Every Human Need

Give me a break!

[tocqueville]

6. Give him a break !!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Benedict stressed that the state alone is responsible for creating a just society, not the church"

that's far more progressive than what you can hear from plenty of other "Christians" in the US. It's a clear pleading for the separation of Church and State. Yes the Church has the right to express its views in a democratic society as long it respects the rules of the debate and PAY ITS TAXES.

Then if you don't like what he teaches, that's your right. But my opinion is that the Protestantic Churches are as "good" as the Catholics "to Thwart Every Human Need"...

[Demeter]

10. Having Endured Several Years of Catholicism, Including Their Schooling

I think I know whereof I speak. Having seen the Church in action in the world recently and throughout history, I know many other sufferers of iits benevolence would agree. The tiny little benefits to individuals, scattered like breadcrumbs to birds, are overbalanced by a pattern of abuse of power and assumption of privilege on a scale never seen before, (and now being emulated by the Crook-in-Chief).

[Bridget Burke]

16. Other summaries of the encyclical make far more sense.

I guess the OP is really fond of Rupert Murdoch & the Illustrious New York Post.

According to a survey conducted by Pace University in 2004, the New York Post was rated the least credible major news outlet in New York, and the only news outlet to receive more responses calling it "not credible" than credible (44% not credible to 39% credible). <1>

When Rupert Murdoch once asked the chairman of Bloomingdale's why he wasn't buying ads in the Post, he was told "because, dear Rupert, your readers are my shop-lifters."

The Public Enemy song "A Letter to the New York Post" is a complaint about what they believed to be negative and inaccurate coverage the group received from the paper.

In the spy farce film Top Secret!, one of the villain's henchmen is introduced as "Klaus . . . a moron, who knows only what he reads in the New York Post." The actor, a large man with a blank, rather unintelligent looking expression on his face, is holding a copy of the New York Post as this is said.

The New York Post is a common target of jokes on the television show Law and Order, often seen at the end of an episode with a ridiculous headline relating to the episode's case, occasionally alongside a copy of the New York Times, which has a more reasonable headline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Post

[DanCa]

2. One man's influence is another man's emotional blackmail. (nt)

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Trying to resurrect Liberation Theology?

"Benedict conceded that Marxist models of dealing with injustice by trying to provide for social needs did help the poor. But he said Marxism was a failed experiment because it could not respond to every human need."

That is what this means. JPII cracked down on this as soon as he came in.

[Donkeykick]

4. Well...

Pope Benedict XVI said in his first encyclical Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church has a duty through its charitable work to influence political leaders to ease suffering and promote justice.

Well it depends on the details of what he means; if he means sticking up for certain legislation or candidates in the USA, I think that it might be time to introduce the church(any denomination for that matter) to H&R Block. ;-)

[saigon68]

12. Yes--- introduce the little Weasel to H &R Block

"Your friends will fail, Young Skywalker. For this Papacy is not under construction (whirling chair around). It is a fully functioning DEATH VATICAN!

[noonwitch]

14. Remember the movie "Foul Play"?

One of the 3 or 4 movies that Chevy Chase was actually funny in.

In that movie, there is an organization called "Tax the Churches League", and they try to kill the pope (after their incarceration for previously trying to abduct Billy Graham). It's a very funny movie.

[cyberpj]

5. Seen this? Be careful if you quote him now, you might have to pay!

Vatican 'cashes in' by putting price on the Pope's copyright
From Richard Owen in Rome
January 23, 2006

THE Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Pope’s words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements.

For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

The edict covers Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff — as Pope and as cardinal — but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.

The decision was denounced yesterday for treating the Pope’s words as “saleable merchandise” and endangering the Church’s mission to “spread the Christian message”.

cont'd...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2005615,00.html

[lovuian]

7. I guess in a Marxist state he wouldn't be able to charge for his

words...

[PATRICK]

8. Doomed reruns

Well HE picked the name of the last loser to try what he is doing again. The previous Benedict tried injecting some institutional Godpolitik in the doomed alliances before the Great War and in the chaos after when- fighting revolution and communism- was just as important as getting niggardly, cowardly discredited world institutions to take care of the surviving masses. That benedict saw his place as an European institution of magisterial triumphalist Church authority- which exists less now than it did then- which was little at that point in modern secularism(which controls governments and business NOT the feared little people).

It is a conflicted balancing act. Without even reading the speech i would in fact be surprised that these people dedicated to repeating mistakes of an aggressively repeating past are not in fact looking insanely worse than their original disastrous models- whom they openly admire.

Think. If they admire Reagan they are condemned to multiply his mistakes in an insane way because not only is the original error being repeated, the blindly enthusiastic denial of truth applies a new layer of madness.

Such people become meaningless(and comically nuts) in the sweep of disaster and what will inevitably come to pass.

[Ben Ceremos]

9. So Catholicism,

by the same definition is a failed ideology because it fails to meet "every human need". I think this Pope is a f*cking moron or a "devil". He is disconnected and spouts crap about divine love as if it is a real thing. STFU Benedictus, your papacy has all the earmarks of moral decrepity, such as blindness to actual injustice, emphasis on sexuality as justification for repression, and pedophile protection program. Your church is a joke. Furthermore, the Christ story is a blatant lie and you know it. Your dishonesty is typical for a church leader. I wish you a short papacy, a**hole. PS, what does Benedictus have in common with Neil Bush? Clue: A Swiss-based ecumenical organization that works against the interests of women and the poor...

[cantstandbush]

11. Ominus warning. Beware of SCOTUS with Alito. n/t

[sundancekid]

13. especially with ferragamo red slippers ... just exactly what the good Lord

would say -- by all means let's not INSPIRE, let's just peddle more influence -- ok, the sarcasm key is off now ... another full blown blivet, he's just in a different location (like rome instead of dc)

so many pharisees, so little time

[Bridget Burke]

15. Thanks for trusting Murdoch's New York Post!

And thanks for snipping only the bits you found relevant. Numerous other summaries are available. This one's from the Houston Chronicle--my local paper.

Pope Benedict XVI said in his surprising first encyclical on Wednesday that passion and physicality are integral components of love, not only in marriage but in relating to God and to neighbor, especially the poor. The encyclical, titled God is Love, stressed making the love of God and neighbor more than a sentimental notion, instead using it as a forceful basis for better human and spiritual relationships.

An encyclical is considered a major form of papal communication and instruction for the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. "The first encyclical always sets the blueprint for the pontificate," said Sister Paula Jean Miller, director of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

Some may have expected Benedict's first paper to be more dogmatic because as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he had been the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. Instead, he wrote about a central tenet of the Christian faith....

Benedict said the church "cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. ... Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice."

The pontiff warned, however, that charity cannot be used to proselytize. "Those who practice charity in the church's name will never seek to impose the church's faith upon others."

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3613271.html

He did come out against extramarital sex--which should surprise all those folks who are unaware that the Pope is Catholic.