Truth Can't Be Relativized, Insists Benedict XVI
275,000 Attend Papal Mass in Warsaw
WARSAW, Poland, MAY 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI, on the second day of his trip to Poland, exhorted believers to resist the temptation to remove uncomfortable truths from the Gospel.
The Pope delivered that message today in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square to a crowd of 275,000 people pelted by heavy rains.
The Holy Father recalled that 27 years ago, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in that same place on his first pastoral visit to his homeland, which would initiate a spiritual movement of decisive consequences for the Soviet bloc.
The Bishop of Rome dedicated his homily to the profound union between love and truth.
"Many preachers of the Gospel gave their lives specifically because of their faithfulness to the truth of the word of Christ," said the Pontiff.
However, he continued, "as in past centuries, so also today there are people or groups who obscure this centuries-old Tradition, seeking to falsify the Word of Christ and to remove from the Gospel those truths which in their view are too uncomfortable for modern man."
"They try to give the impression that everything is relative," Benedict XVI said. "Yet the Church cannot silence the Spirit of Truth.
"Every Christian is bound to confront his own convictions continually with the teachings of the Gospel and of the Church's Tradition in the effort to remain faithful to the word of Christ, even when it is demanding and, humanly speaking, hard to understand."
The Pope continued: "We must not yield to the temptation of relativism or of a subjectivist and selective interpretation of sacred Scripture. Only the whole truth can open us to adherence to Christ, dead and risen for our salvation."
In the afternoon, the Holy Father traveled by helicopter to Czestochowa to visit the Marian shrine of Jasna Gora and meet with religious and leaders of movements. He arrived in Krakow in the evening, where he will spend the night.
On Saturday, he plans to visit Wadowice, John Paul II's birthplace.
No matter how elaborate the argument...
:-)