Pope blasts Europeans for not having enough children

AFP ^ | 09-08-2007

[RckyRaCoCo]

MARIAZELL, Austria (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI blasted Europeans for being selfish and not having enough children, in a sermon on Saturday at the 850-year-old pilgrimage site of Mariazell in Austria.

"Europe has become child-poor. We want everything for ourselves and place little trust in the future," the pope told a crowd of faithful from his canopied area at an open-air mass that took place under heavy rain.

But Benedict held out hope, saying: "The earth will be deprived of a future only when the forces of the human heart and of reason illuminated by the heart are extinguished . . . Where God is, there is the future."

The pontiff had slammed abortion upon arriving in Austria Friday as the "very opposite" of human rights.

"The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself," he told members of the government and the diplomatic corps at the Hofburg, the seat of the Austrian presidency in Vienna.

The pope also warned at the mass Saturday that science must be used for good if man is not to be threatened with destruction.

[Popocatapetl]

The Pope misses the point.

The *reason* people do not have children is two-fold.

The first reason is that they do not have enough energy.
This is itself for two reasons.

The first the Pope can do something about, to ask Catholics to limit their sexual activity to making children instead of using it for recreation. Sex is very taxing on both men and women, and they can have more and stronger children if they do not waste their energy on endless “practice” for pleasure, with no intention of making children.

But the second reason that people do not have enough energy is government. Governments are convinced that having a powerful economy and high taxes is more important than having children. So governments encourage women to work instead of having children, then tax couples so much that women are working for free.

So the Pope should criticize government for both encouraging women to work and having taxes so high that women *have* to work, instead of having and raising children.

The *other* reason, again the fault of GOVERNMENT, not people, that the Pope should argue against, is that government demands more and more for children. A higher standard of living. More education. More material goods. Better behavior. In fact, government demands on parents for their children are endless.

But having children is already hard. For each and every additional demand placed on parents for their children, even little ones, more parents will decide to have fewer children, and many people will decide to have no children at all.

So this is one more thing the Pope can argue against: leaving parents alone to raise their children as they see fit.

Thus, the MAJORITY of the low birthrate problem is GOVERNMENT. And this it to who the Pope should direct the majority of his criticisms.

The Pope should call for women to leave the workplace and instead be homemakers raising children, unless they can neither marry nor have children. He should call on GOVERNMENT to LOWER TAXES for married couples and not worry about their sacred idols of “growth” and “productivity”.

And he should call on GOVERNMENT to leave parents alone unless the lives of their children are in danger, and to not pester them with endless demands “on behalf” of the children.

And then, last but least, the Pope could finally return to his theme of using sex for reproduction, not for entertainment. And less because it is “sinful”, than because parents need that energy for their children.

[GovernmentIsTheProblem]

‘Perhaps if the Vatican offered to pay for all food, housing, schooling and medical payments...things would turn around quickly.’

they do, but only to the families of the young boys molested by priests who.... don’t multiply.

[john drake]

That is correct. Historically, the U.S. tax program, up until the 1960’s, promoted tax exemptions to families with children by allowing the exemptions to, theoretically, account for the cost of raising a child (I believe it was around $600/child, which was probably accurate back then). Currently it’s only just over $1,000 or upto $1,500 (tax accountants, help me here), when in actuality it should be closer to $10-$12,000/child. Yes, they are expensive, but worth it. If the American people paid enough attention to this issue, and lobbied the morons in Congress, maybe this issue could be resolved. However, the special interest groups are pretty much anti-family, therefore this is an uphill battle, but necessary, otherwise a tax incentivized vehicle for promoting family growth remains stifled.

[GovernmentIsTheProblem]

‘The first the Pope can do something about, to ask Catholics to limit their sexual activity to making children instead of using it for recreation. Sex is very taxing on both men and women, and they can have more and stronger children if they do not waste their energy on endless “practice” for pleasure, with no intention of making children.’

how does having less sex produce stronger children....

in my experience it only produces crabby adults.

[Salvation]

Priests help the flock to multiply by putting the right message out there.

Just because some priests made mistakes does not mean that the entire Catholic Church is wrong.

In fact, isn’t it the Catholic Church that the left-lelaning lamestream media likes to ridicule, (as seemingly do some people on this thread) because the Catholic Church stands steadfast against
abortion
homosexuality
euthanasia
stem-cell research
infanticide
same-sex unions
contaception
???

I hate to tell all of you, but the Cafeteria is closed for the Cafeteria Catholic and the lamestream media. The Catholic Church will prevail.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Aw c’mon. He’s an honest celibate. But if he weren’t, let me refer you to my tagline.

[Salvation]

                From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (click on the book for the link.)    

2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).

 

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil:

Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. . . . The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks for your post.

Nice tagline, too.

[Salvation]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2322 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.

2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."

2319 Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God.

2323 Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human being.

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

1711 Endowed with a spiritual soul, with intellect and with free will, the human person is from his very conception ordered to God and destined for eternal beatitude. He pursues his perfection in "seeking and loving what is true and good" (GS 15 § 2).

[alicewonders]

e first the Pope can do something about, to ask Catholics to limit their sexual activity to making children instead of using it for recreation.

I don't know about that - sometimes practice makes perfect! ;)

[Mrs. Don-o]

Ah. But God plays the game. Therefore He makes the rules.

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Re: the pope and celibacy.

Marriage and childbearing is good. Abstaining from that for selfish reasons is bad. But abstaining from it for unselfish reasons, e.g. for the Kingdom of heaven, is better.

Matthew 19:12
For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.

[ex-snook]

Get real. The Pope is not married.

[Salvation]

For everyone's information on celibacy. It is not the problem. In fact it is an asset because it lets a priest concentrate on serving the people of his parish.

Pope Defends Clergy Celibacy Order
Has the Time Come to Consider Making Celibacy Truly Optional In the Western Church?
Catholic Scandals: A Crisis for Celibacy?
Celibacy of the priesthood is a church strength, not a liability
Celibacy s history of power and money

Pope: Priests Must Stay Celibate
Giving Thanks for the Good Shepherds ( A Defense of Priestly Celibacy)
Don't end celibacy for priests
The celibate superhero
Priestly Celibacy And Its Roots In Christ

How to Refute Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy
Priestly Celibacy Reflects Who - and Whose - We Are[Father George W.Rutler]
Celibacy
Tracing the Glorious Origins of Celibacy
God’s call to celibacy for the sake of His Kingdom - by Card. George

Vatican Says Celibacy Rule Nonnegotiable
Bishop Attacks Move to End Celibacy
A response to Fr. Joseph Wilson's defense of mandatory celibacy
The gift of Priestly celibacy as a sign of the charity of Christ, by Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Archbishop Dolan:"We Need to Be Renewing Our Pledge to Celibacy, Not Questioning It"

Celibacy is gift cherished by church
Celibacy Will Save the Priesthood
Celibacy Defended by EWTN's Fr. Levis
Call To Action: Dump Celibacy
The (Catholic) Church Has Always Prospered When Celibacy Is Honored

John Paul II Hails "Inestimable Value" of Priestly Celibacy
For Priests, Celibacy Is Not the Problem
Fr. Shannon Collins Discusses Celibacy
5 Arguments Against (Catholic) Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
Why A Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage

New Vatican Document on Homosexuality and the Priesthood Coming Before Fall 2005
Catholic priests demand the right to marry
Catholic priests urge Church to reconsider celibacy rules
Alternative Priests´ Council Hits Back on Mandatory Celibacy
Married Priests? The English Experience

Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
New Vatican Document to Eliminate 1961 Papal Ban on Ordaining Homosexuals
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
Is it time to ordain married men to the Catholic priesthood?
40% of Scots priests want end to celibacy

A small, sturdy band of 'John Paul priests'(JPII legacy of conservative priests)
Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained
Cardinal says Priests will marry
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels: Married Priests
An Unneeded Headache (Vatican document on [NOT] admitting homosexual to the priesthood)

Vatican Prepares Draft Directives Against Admitting Gays as Priests
From Anglican to married Catholic priest
Spain gets first married priest
Spain (R) Catholic Church ordains first married priest
The Catholic Church - East-West Difference Over Priestly Celibacy

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SCRANTON TO RECEIVE FIRST ECUSA PRIEST
Defending Chastity in the Priesthood
Ordination of married men is raised at Vatican synod
Patriarch of Venice deemphasizes ordination of married men to the priesthood
Cardinal Pell: Ending Celibacy Rule Would Be a Blunder

Priest shortage stems from crisis of faith, ignorance of the infinite, not celibacy, say Bishops [at Synod]
Synod Affirms Priestly Celibacy
Married Priests Aren’t the Answer (a seminarian states his view)
5 Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
(Catholic) Church makes a clear distinction between chastity and celibacy, says Priest

Why Not Married Priests? The Case for Clerical Celibacy
Married, ex-Episcopalian ordained a Catholic priest in California
Getting It Right:The Foundation of Friendship (What can a celibate priest really teach us about love
Another One Takes the Plunge [swims the Tiber]
Following the Signs (to a priestly vocation)

Long Journey to Rome (Former Southern Baptist Pastor Now a Traveling Crusader for Catholic Church)
Ex-Lutheran bishop found Catholic rock: Joseph Jacobson to be ordained Catholic priest by Christmas
The Gift: A Married Priest Looks at Celiba[cy]
Vatican Reaffirms Celibacy for Priests
Pope, Curia Aides Reaffirm Value of Priestly Celibacy (detailed Vatican response)

Should Catholic priests have the right to marry?

Married Priests Back Celibacy (Part 1 of 2)

[cyborg]

Abortion isn’t the problem. The high cost of living is, taxes and so on. Plus, it’s more of a birth control issue than abortion.

[Salvation]

I forgot to address this to all of you. Please read some of the links.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893067/posts?page=35#35

[Wurlitzer]

NO DISRESPECT TO THE POPE INTENDED BY THE FOLLOWING!!!!

Pope to Europe: "Go ye forth and fornicate"

I have said the same thing on many occasions but I think my meaning might differ from the Pope.

[Justa]

The tax excuse doesn't explain it. Most people seem to use their discretionary assets on themselves, not for having children. How often have you heard of people taking out a 2nd mortgage so they can have more kids as opposed to all the other stuff?

There're plenty of wealthy couples to whom children present an unacceptable alteration of their preferred lifestyle. And we know where that came from too. When was the last time you saw raising babies and young children prominently featured in television and movies?

[Global2010]

Yes he is right but I dont like how the article reffered to his speaking the truth saying he Blasted and slammed.

Gives the impression of some wild man yelling and shaking his fist at the crowd.