not even trying to hide it any mroe>>> pope says church DUTY to influence

[greenbriar]

VATICAN CITY - 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.




The document, "God is Love," also warns against sex without unconditional love, which he said risked turning men and women into merchandise.

<MORE> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_re_eu/pope_encyclical

[northzax]

1. well duh, why should they hide it?

if you have a moral philosophy, don't you have an obligation to use whatever influence you have within your framework to enact the change you want/need to see? I think so.

[greenbriar]

2. hehe LOVE you sig

spit pepsi all over my keyboard

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. I only they practiced what they preached

but Pauline Christian Men have spread a lot more hate then love during their reign. Screw the Pope.

[arcane1]

4. "turning men and women into merchandise" sounds familiar

In order to see pearly factory gates,
We all learn our places, pre-destined fates
God-fearing people with minimal goals,
Led to the slaughter; "tools with souls".

When the church and its leaders sought new ways to bleed us
It didn't take them long to find:
fear of perdition beats nuclear fission
at making the mill-wheels grind.

Ban contraception - a shrewd move says I
Plenty of slaves born to suffer and die.
Say "Go forth and multiply" when you want more.
When you've too many just send them to war.

History's wounds will not heal overnight.
They pray for my soul as they set me alight.
Remember the maxim "Arbeit Macht Frei"
Thought up by a christian with God on his side...

Skyclad - "Brimstone Ballet"

[Democat]

5. No more tax exempt status for the Catholic church?

Finally.

[Hardrada]

6. About time.

We should not subsidize superstition any longer. Might help avoid more Scalitos too,

[JVS]

7. If you think the Pope is meddlesome now, you should have seen...

him 1000 years ago

[meow2u3]

8. You seem to have misunderstood what the Pope really said

(snip)

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.

"There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbor is indispensable," he said.

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."

(snip)

Benedict said the church's work caring for widows, the sick and orphans are as much a part of its mission as celebrating the sacraments and spreading the Gospels. However, he stressed the church's charity workers must never use their work to proselytize or push a particular political ideology.

"Love is free; it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends," he wrote.


I say Benedict, apart from his apparently unpopular position on sex, has it right when he denounced pushing ideology on others and that the rich should quit being so damned greedy and selfish.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. So the priest can screw the choirboy as long as he loves him?

Just wondering......