Decadent world is in the grip of Satan, says Pope

The Daily Telegraph ^ | April 15, 2006 | Malcolm Moore

[MadIvan]

Pope Benedict said last night that the world was in the grip of Satan and prayed for mankind to open its eyes to the "filth around us".

At an Easter ceremony that recreated the passage of Jesus Christ to the crucifixion, Benedict XVI lashed out at man's "decadent narcissism".

He said "a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan".

The Good Friday service, held at the Colosseum, showed the 14 stages of Christ's suffering and was designed to allow worshippers to share in the agony of Jesus. During the first and final stage, the Pope carried the cross.

The prayers, written by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, the Vatican City's vicar general, were approved by the Pope, and reflected his strongly conservative outlook.

"Surely God is deeply pained by the attack on the family," the Pope said. "Today we seem to be witnessing a kind of anti-Genesis, a counter-plan, a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family."

He also expressed fears about genetic modification, and said it was "insane arrogance" to play with the "grammar" of creation.

The meditations were designed to invoke a feeling of man's sinfulness ahead of the dark hours of Easter Saturday. Bodies are "constantly bought and sold on the streets of our cities, on our television channels, in homes that have become like streets," he said.

Accumulating wealth was "robbery" when it "prevented others from living". He deplored "the division of our world into belts of prosperity and belts of poverty".

The Pope said society valued "immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication".

The downbeat message echoed the Pope's words at the same ceremony last year, when, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he led the Way of the Cross in place of the ailing Pope John Paul II.

In those meditations, he compared the Church to "a boat about to sink, taking on water on every side". He lamented "how much filth there is in the Church", and said that "a Christianity which has grown weary of faith has abandoned the Lord".

Since his election almost a year ago, the Bavarian-born Pope has surprised many with his gentle public persona. At yesterday's service, however, his ferocity was a reminder of why he was once nicknamed "Cardinal Rottweiler".

John Allen, the author of two books on Pope Benedict, said: "Is this the real Pope Benedict re-emerging? He has projected a very different tone in the last year, but that does not mean that he has changed."

On Thursday, the Pope poured scorn on revelations within the recently published Gospel of Judas, a fourth century text which is sympathetic to Judas Iscariot and whose crumbling fragments claim that Jesus instructed Judas to betray him.

The Pope celebrates his 79th birthday tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

Mr Allen said he would adopt a lighter tone at an open-air Mass at St Peter's.

[Mercat]

Wow, the Pope was not light and lively on Good Friday, imagine that. Media idiots.

[RichInOC]

Okay, who here seriously thinks that Jack Chick, or anybody at Chick Publications for that matter, is going to stand up any time soon and argue that the world's not in the grip of Satan? That's probably one of the few points on which they and the Pope would agree wholeheartedly.

Anyway, is it just me, or does the Iranian president look uncannily like one of the bad guys from a Chick tract?

[TalBlack]

"I wonder why almost all the "Catholic" countries have descended so far into socialism?"

In judging Catholicism you may want to look at ALL of history rather than the last 200 yrs.

Socialism is diametrically opposed to Christian charity (which is voluntary). Countries descend into it because it is the cloak that Evil wears to gain control of each individual life in a nation.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope ("Gloria Olivae")will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil."

But all Benedictines are not Olivetans (this is just a minor congregation which practices the Rule of Benedict) and moreover, Pope Benedict is not a member of the Benedictine Order. So the prophecy, so called, does not apply to him.

[krunkygirl]

save

[RobbyS]

This pope also deplores the cancerous growth of the state into all areas of human life, a virtual preemption of the corporal acts of mercy, like the education of children and caring for the sick.

[RobbyS]

The Catholic Church in Dallas "sits on" far fewer bucks than the megachurches in this area.

[Mrs. Don-o]

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Vatican city-state's annual budget is about $190 million. (It equals the 2005 city budget of Newport Beach, California.) Interestingly, one of the Vatican's most lucrative sources of income is a two-pump gasoline station located about 50 yards south of St. Peter's, which does a brisk business: it costs up to 30% less than the gasoline does in Italy because it isn't taxed.

And yes, I do have a link. It's at

http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/micro/2005/0407vatican.htm

Much of the storied "wealth" of the Catholic Church is in buildings and the land they're built on: churches, schools, hospitals and so forth. These constitute assets, to be sure, but they represent neither luxury nor ready cash, and many are devoted to charitable purposes.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"That is an understatement of the Catholic church leaning left."

Wow, you said it. And you should see what Isaiah and Jeremiah had to say about wealth and poverty. And that Carpenter, with his offenive comments about rich men and camels. And St. John Chrysostom and St. Ambrose of Milan. Man, they're radicals from way, w-a-a-a-y back.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"I wonder why almost all the "Catholic" countries have descended so far into socialism? Whether it is France, Spain, Italy or most of the South American countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, etc , they are just descending into a morass of socialism and under their systems the mass populations suffer, not benefit from this "Christian" charity."

All this in contrast to the robust Christian charities of historically Protestant areas like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, northern Germany, and England, with their crowded churches, their healthy birthrates, and their wise rejection of socialism.

[trisham]

This article is nothing more than typical media spin of a subject they cannot comprehend and often neglect. Best to judge for yourselves, rather than leave it up to the Telegraph, especially when they quote one of the more radical catholic reporters, John Allen.

*************

Thank you for bringing some truth and common sense to this thread.

[Mrs. Don-o]

The position Cardinal Law retains in the Vatican is archpriest of Sta. Maria Maggiore, a ceremonial role usually held by retired prelates, with no teaching or governing authority attached to it (although there is a small gift shop.)

I think he deserved to be stripped of his miter according to the "Rite of Degradation of Bishops"; but my interpretation is that, like that wackadoo Archbishop Milingo of Lusaka, he was instead put in a little niche where he can keep his red hat but can't do any harm.

[virgil]

I think I heard that the Church has something like a $300 million dollar deficit.

[OldFriend]

Cardinal Law had a prominent role during the funeral of Pope John Paul II. He was quite visible during the choosing of the new pope.

That was a slap in the face to the victims here in the USA

[virgil]

Yeah. JPII was very critical of the communist system. The KGB tried to kill him. JPII was also very critical of capitalism too. He believed that both systems are doomed to eventual collapse because of their over emphasis on materialism. Yes, maybe Pope Benedict is preparing us for a new dark ages (as some other poster here remarked). Those who have ears to hear and eyes to see know why. The Holy Father is a wise man.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I, too, was distressed to see Cardinal Law given this kind of prominence. If there were still an official "Order of Penitents" with sackcloth and, possibly, symbolic millstones around their necks, he'd have my hearty endorsement to be "prominent" there.

I'd be there too. I still have to go to Confession...

[JCEccles]

When it comes to the distribution of wealth, the Catholic church leans left

Perhaps. But that isn't necessarily how I read the Pope's comments.

In an open (relatively few barriers to social mobility) and advanced capitalistic society relatively free of public and private corruption, "the accumulation of wealth" really has reference to concentrating and redirecting excess wealth to job and opportunity creating enterprises where greater wealth can be produced. All tend to benefit, although some tend to benefit more than others.

The Pope's denunciation is better targeted at corrupt societies, often of an ostensibly socialist or at least anti-capitalist bent. Think of third-world nations governed by warlords or vicious autocrats who use the misery of their people as bait to entice wealth transfers from first world countries but then steal the largess as fast as it comes across the transom.

[the invisib1e hand]

TAKE THIS, POPE!

Cool is for fools. As is this other garbage.

Peace to you.

[Almondjoy]

Why shouldn't the church lean left? Greed may = capitalism may = propserity in the real world. But it's certainly clear that the only way to be a Christian with money is to give to charity.

Those who accumlate are just as sinful as homosexuals that lie together.

But of course people don't want to talk about that.. people would rather talk about how they are better than others. They dare not look at themselves.

[the invisib1e hand]

I wonder why almost all the "Catholic" countries have descended so far into socialism?

Because the letter without the Spirit is death.

Socialism is death, slavery, anti life, anti-Christ. The only thing more dangerous than atheism is religion without the Spirit -- without the Life ("having a form of godliness").

It just seems so obvious to me. Benedict said, a Christianity which has grown weary of faith has abandoned the Lord. So, all that Church history, without the Lord, is what you're seeing. It's man's pride -- "See? Look how good I am without bothering with God." It could happen to any of us.