Posted on 07/17/2008 12:08:33 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Thursday told a huge gathering of young people that they were inheriting a planet whose resources had been scarred and squandered to fuel insatiable consumption.
His latest appeal to save the planet for future generations came in a address to some 150,000 youths in Sydney after he rode through the city's harbor standing on the outdoor deck of a white ferry as dozens of boats blew their horns.
"Reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth, erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption," he told the cheering crowd.
The 81-year-old pope appeared in good form as he started the official part of his trip after three days of rest. He chatted with young people on the ferry and stepped off sprightly to receive a bear hug welcome by an Aboriginal on the dock.
He told the young people, some of whom had come from island nations threatened by rising sea levels or drought-hit nations such as Australia, that protecting the environment was "of vital importance to humanity."
--snip--
"It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story -- light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth and living creatures," he said.
In a welcoming speech to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday morning, the pope said: "It is appropriate to reflect upon the kind of world we are handing on to future generations."
--snip--
APOLOGY TO ABORIGINES PRAISED
The pope also praised Australia for apologizing for past injustices to Aborigines, saying it was a courageous move to repair race relations and offered hope to the rest of the world.
Rudd officially apologized to Aborigines in February.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Dear friends, life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose (cf. Gen 1:28)! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this – in truth, in goodness, and in beauty – that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.
Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life. Thus the “way” which the Apostles brought to the ends of the earth is life in Christ. This is the life of the Church. And the entrance to this life, to the Christian way, is Baptism.
And if you're Catholic, and find yourself disagreeing with the Pope, then you might consider that it is you who need to change, not him.
Unless the Pope is speaking Ex cathedra, all bets are off. I can understand respecting the office, but when the Pope jumps into the world of economics and environmentalism he's stepping way outside the bounds of infallibility.
If he makes statements like this, he should expect criticism. That is not disrespect. I have said on this board that I don't care for the Catholic church because of some of its liberal positions, and this is one more example of why I don't. The Pope made a very liberal statement with this. He deserves criticism.
I believe in freedom. If people want materialism, that is their choice. I fight it every day in my own life (try not to get sucked into buying bigger and more than I need). But I am not going to use the government to do it, and I do not think it is a good idea for a religious leader to be supporting the Marxist position.
I don’t know about “scarred and squandered” but I certainly think that young people are inheriting a world gone mad.
“I previously stated I would hold comment until reading the Pope’s full statement. I recommend that you do the same.”
Thank you, good advice. I was encouraged to read those further remarks. I’m not Catholic, but am obsessed with the Fall. It is such a pivotal part of the human story and gives lie to all offers of an Eden here and now. The Pope should be hammering his audiences with their need for Christ and let lesser issues go. Mankind needs Jesus, not a cleaner earth.
Just because he is not speaking Ex Cathedra, doesn't give you free reign to ignore or disregard his statements. He is the Pope, afterall, in direct succession from Peter who Jesus founded the Church upon. You might want to give him a little extra credence, especially if you think you disagree with him.
You just stated that Pope Benedict supports a Marxist position. You should retract that. Pope Benedict is not calling for the end of freedom. He is encouraging the world to not buy into rampant materialism.
Agreed. When he starts speaking the anti-war language or the Green language, he shows his "fallible" side.
No one should think another person never makes a mistake. Since the Pope influences so many he obviously has political power and one should be careful about embracing every word he says as Gospel truth IMO.
Whether you are catholic or not and you find yourself disagreeing with the Pope, then you might also consider that you are right, and that he can be wrong.
I’m not claiming that the Pope is always right. But I suggest that if you’re Catholic, you shouldn’t be so quick to ignore his statements.
Hogwash! The Apostles never claimed they had any expertise other than in Christ. What does an expert in doctrine know about economics or environmentalism.
This is the same as an actor or singer speaking off topic. Unless it's the Good News, the Pope is speaking off topic and has no special authority.
I will admit that living according to God's truths do have an impact on our Earthly lives, but this is just plain silly.
What exactly is this much complained of “rempant materialism?”
Well, I’m not a Catholic so I can be objective about his errors.
Agreed. This also means that the Pope should know when to keep his mouth shut. His private views are not infallible but they could influence a great many. His words have weight and as such they should be more measured than most.
Oh? Just because you accept all of that controversial stuff, and accept that he is infallible, DOES NOT mean that everone else is not free to ignore and disregard his pronouncements.
You didn't just go there, did you? Come on. Really? If we look historically... never mind. It's too easy...
A spelling mistake?
I’m sorry that you hate the Pope. Maybe someday you will get beyond your pride, and see the Truth.
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