Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Just as so many times I have cried with the Iraqi people, on this occasion I rejoiced with them”: the Iraqi football team’s victory in the Asian Cup was unusually evoked today by Benedict XVI before he turned his attention once again to expressing his closeness to the war wracked nation. The Pope’s congratulations for a football event came at the end of his general audience, when Benedict XVI spoke of “the popular explosion of joy” across the country “in the face of this historic success for Iraq, for the first time football champions of Asia”. It was an “enthusiasm that spilled over onto Iraq's streets”, and “This experience of joyful sharing reveals the desire of a people to have a normal and serene life”. “It is my hope that this event, with everyone's support, may contribute to a future in Iraq of real peace in liberty and mutual respect. Congratulations!”The Pope’s unusual reference to a football victory marked the recommencement, this morning, of the Wednesday general audiences, after his three week period of rest in Lorernzago di Cadore. The Pope arrived at the Paul VI audience hall by helicopter from Castelgandolfo, where he resides during the summer. There he was greeted by over 6 thousand faithful, among them 200 scouts who today celebrate the 100th anniversary of the International Scout Movement.
The Pope himself commented on the resumption of the traditional appointment: “I will take up my catechesis – he began – from where I left off, that is the figure of Basil, saint and bishop, a great fourth-century Doctor of the social doctrine of Church who frequently exhorted the people of his day to give to the poor. Indeed, he said, if we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, we ought not to own any more than our neighbour owns. We must not offend Christ with inhumanity towards others”.
In the footsteps of Saint Basil, Benedict XVI then affirmed that “only virtue is an inalienable good which remains both during life and after death”” and that “only by being open to God, our common Father, can we create a just and fraternal world”. Finally Saint Basil also handed us down the criteria on how to interpret classical writers: “we must take on what is useful, with discernment. Bees do not alight on every flower indistinctly, if we are wise, we will take on board all that represents truth and that serves to help in our spiritual growth”.
Concluding the Pope had a special greeting for the “Scouts from Europe who are here today to reaffirm their ecclesial participation after having renewed their scout’s promise”. “My thoughts go to all of the scouts and guides across the world – he continued – who today will renew this promise”. Benedict XVI expressed the hope that “the educational movement of the scouts, born of the profound intuition of Lord Robert Baden Powell, will continue to bear fruit in human, spiritual and civil education world over”
8 comments:
“I will take up my catechesis – he began – from where I left off, that is the figure of Basil, saint and bishop, a great fourth-century Doctor of the social doctrine of Church who frequently exhorted the people of his day to give to the poor. Indeed, he said, if we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, we ought not to own any more than our neighbour owns. We must not offend Christ with inhumanity towards others”.
Okay, it's official. The pope is some sort of left-wing socialist nut job. It's one thing to make sure people have housing, food, and shelter. But I can't see coveting my neighbor's jazz collection, or for that matter my neighbor coveting my piano.
I suppose we could all go live in caves or something and be equally miserable.
I guess it wasn't just popes in the middle ages who said or did dumb things.
Someone needs to tell the pope that if a country doesn't harbor dictators and terrorists, that country tends to tick off fewer people. I guess he didn't learn the lesson from the 30s and 40s. You'd think someone forced to don a German uniform during WWII would catch a clue. I can sympathize with Iraquis too -- but they would have helped themselves if they hadn't have let the ba$tard$ get the upper hand to begin with.
Even in the acts of the apostles they finally figured out that everyone (able) should pull his/her own weight. This fellow puts way too much faith in the UN too. Same swindlers who came up with the oil-for-food scandal. Criminals, and theives, the whole lot of them.
Madame,
I think we are supposed to learn from the teaching of the Vicar of Christ, and jeer because he challenges our narrow political view, I think that is what could properly be termed pharasaical.
a NOT jeer
I have commented on your good blog before dear father and you were kind enough to allow me to write about the plight of Christians in Iraq. However I must comment on the fantastic and continued support of the Holy Father for the Iraqi people. I was very moved to read the comments that he made about "The Lions of Mesopotamia" as the Iraqi football team is now being called in Iraq and the Middle East, last Sunday 29/7/2007 was the day of the Final between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. I have to admit that I prayed a few times for Iraq to win at the morning Mass that day and at some stage during the Mass I became convinced that Iraq would win!! I went home and switched the satellite on but after a few minutes I got so nervous that went out and returned home just after the final whistle. At first when I switched on the TV I saw the Saudi players shaking hands with various officials and without thinking I said to my wife that Iraq has lost then I turned over to another Channel and there the Iraqi commentator was going absolutely berserk. It did not quite register with me what he was actually saying and it took me a few seconds to realise that Iraq had actually won the match by a goal to nil. Even now I remember the sense of pride, the exhilaration and joy that it overwhelmed me so much I in fact jumped from the sofa onto the floor and in the process I smashed my wrist watch as I landed on the wooden floor I was sobbing uncontrollably and screaming with delight. Thanks be to God we had something to be happy about at last. It was also my wife’s birthday and naturally she was the good omen that the team needed. I went back to the Church with my family that evening and father John my parish priest (St. Simon’s Church in Ashford) was shocked to see me at two Masses in the same day!!! I was so happy that I wanted to thank God time and again. Praise be to God the Father. I hope that Iraqi politicians use the example of the UNITED Iraqi football team to work for peace and justice for all Iraqis.
Oh, I'll kiss the ring, but it doesn't exactly want to make me want to invite him over for a backyard BBQ to hear him expound socialist drivel. I'm not obliged to go along with any socialist delusional nonsense.
"Redistribution" carried out by elitists is a crock. Never has worked, never will. See how wonderful Castro's "paradise" is. It's quite one thing for groups of people to decide to live in a monastery. But one has that free will choice. And I bet one monk doesn't particularly get upset if someone got an extra potato skin for dinner. I'll share what goods I have when it comes to the necessities of life - but I don't think we're all obligated to make sure everyone has the latest plasma TV set.
The Pope can peddle the leftwing nomenklatura klaptrap elsewhere, it doesn't impress me.
Karen H. -- San Diego, Ca.
Karen,
You Americans have little sense of history, don't you realise that before there was "socialism" there was [Catholic] Christianity.
What the Pope is saying is what all the Fathers of the Church said. He quotes Basil, he could quote Ambrose, Chrysostom or Cyprian. He continues what all the other Popes have said, Don't you realise that unbridled Capitalism can be as evil as Communism?
Who said anything about "unbridled capitalism?" Ayn Rand can go sucks eggs as far as I am concerned. It's quite one thing to make sure people have food, shelter - that's necessary. And, of course, generosity of spirit is a fine thing to supply over and above the necessities. But when someone comes out with sweeping statements like "we ought not to own any more than our neighbor owns" - I say "hold the phone, Nellie, some scoundrel is going to try and swindle you out of your stuff by trying to make you feel unnaturally guilty - shyster-work-coming-up-be
ready-for-the-flimflam-man. I say, in that case, put your hands in your pockets and get the hell out of there before some con artiste, has a phoney appeal to the Almighty and sticks his hand right in your pocket.
[See FUN with DICK AND JANE, re: phoney preacher con artists.]
Who's going to set up who's in charge of all this REdistribution? It may work for people associating by free will and mother abbess has to be asked for a stamp so you can write your own mother a yearly letter home - or redistribute the small cup for water you may be permitted so you don't get too attached, a la a Carmelite - but it's not going to work in society at large, nor should it be expected to.
We can all go back to living in caves so everyone is equally miserable, but personally I'm not going back to gathering around a campfire just because some naked savage in Papua New Guinea has never seen a light bulb, nor has a place to plug one in. If and when said naked savage wants to come into the 21st century and build a hydroelectric plant so he can have some juice, that's one thing. But sitting naked around a campfire roasting tarantulas for dinner has its drawbacks. Some of you Europeans cave in to everyone flashing a chicken inspector card too easily regards each and everything they say.
May I recommend a book to Karen of San Diego? It's called the New Testament. Perhaps she has never heard of it but if she reads it she will soon discover that her views are baloney. I believe copies might be found in the United States if she looks hard enough.
Post a Comment