VATICAN CITY, Dec. 25, 2008
On Christmas, Pope Decries Selfishness
Benedict XVI Addresses Economic Turmoil And Conflicts Around The World In Annual Papal Message
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The Pope's Christmas Message
"CBS News RAW:" "May the birth of the prince of peace remind a world where it's true happiness lies and may your hearts be filled with hope and joy for the savior has been born for us."
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Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful during the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the City and to the World) message in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. (AP)
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Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, Benedict declared that the "heart of the Christian message is meant for all men and women."
The traditional papal Christmas Day message "Urbi et Orbi" - Latin for "to the City and to the World" - usually covers the globe's hot spots, but this year Benedict also addressed the gloomy economic conditions worrying many across the planet.
Amid near daily news of layoffs, failing companies and people losing homes they can no longer afford in many parts of the world, Benedict's words seemed tailored in part to the global economic crisis.
He said his Christmas message also applied to "wherever an increasingly uncertain future is regarded with apprehension, even in affluent nations."
"In each of these places may the light of Christmas shine forth and encourage all people to do their part in a spirit of authentic solidarity," Benedict said. "If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart."
Without citing countries, Benedict said he hoped the light of Christmas would radiate to places where "the basics needed for survival are missing."
Wearing a crimson mantle against a damp chill, Benedict told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square that God's saving grace could "alone transform evil into good" and "change human hearts, making them oases of peace."
Benedict dedicated part of his message to Africa, singling out Zimbabwe, where hunger is spreading and deepening. He said that people there were "trapped for too long in a political and social crisis which, sadly, keeps worsening."
International pressure has been mounting for longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe to step down, following disputed elections in March. Millions of Zimbabwe's people need food aid, and a cholera epidemic has sharpened problems in a country once considered African's breadbasket.
Suffering also continues in the war-raged region of Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Darfur, Sudan, the pope added. In Somalia, people are weighed down with "interminable sufferings" as "the tragic consequences of the lack of stability and peace," he said.
Benedict spoke of violence and tensions in the Middle East, lamenting that "the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians."
He denounced what he called the "twisted logic of conflict and violence" and said he hoped dialogue and negotiation would prevail to find "just and lasting solutions to the conflicts troubling the region."
Benedict also cited Lebanon and Iraq.
Without naming any particular groups, the pope called for an end to "internecine conflict" dividing ethnic and social groups and disrupting peaceful coexistence. He also denounced terrorism "wherever" it continues to strike.
After reading a litany of the world's woes, the pope added a lighter touch, reciting holiday greetings in 64 languages, including Latin, the Church's official tongue.
The pope had rested for a few hours after celebrating Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the early hours of Thursday.
During that ceremony, the pope lamented the suffering of children who are abandoned, living on the streets or forced to serve as soldiers in conflicts.
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See all 92 CommentsThey should also denounce the Federal Reserve System which part of the private central banking systems that loot the world.
A little ironic coming from a man sitting on a throne of gold in a city of gold, lest we forget "thou shalt have no other Gods before me."
And for what it may be worth yo you... have a Merry and Happy and Peaceful Christmas...
What would your jesus do, pope?
Somehow I don''''t think the Pope''''s Jesus would care for Ahmadinejad''''s Jesus and his jihad *** plan!
Posted by RowdynTex
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One thing all the christians have in common is they all assume they know what their jesus would do and say... thanks for the daily laugh, tex.
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25)
coming from a man who dresses in expensive gold gilded robes and lives in the most expensive house in the world. This CEO controls more wealth than the majority of third world nations.
I''d like to see him put some action into his own words.
and no, this topic has nothing to do with Bush or Iraq.
Posted by smurfcrusher yeah who cares if a US soldier dies in Iraq!! right smurf?"
Posted by Hackerpc
Why aren''t you talking about World Hunger or famine? Or is one soldier more important to you than 50,000 civilians?
There''s a time and place for everything. This topic is not about war or Iraq or Bush''s stupidity. Those things are well known.
I''m just wondering if the pope will be attending the Hitler Youth reunion so he can meet up with his old pals.
Posted by RowdynTex
Do you think that Jesus would have approved for the inquisition? How about molesting young boys? How about incest by popes and papal private armies? How are these any better than Islam today?
Congratulations to Bush for lieing about WMDs and ''al Qaeda links''. Oh and congrats for getting the support of morons like Bagdadhere7
I guess that Paul does not count. After all had it not been for him Chistianity would never have come to fruition. Peter was not doing such a great job in Rome.
The holy, god-loving, conservative, republican supporter christian man is "THE FATHER",
That young innocent little boy whose pant is pulled down in the name of "jesus" is "THE SON",
What is inserted in the "BAK HOLE" of that young innocent boy in the name of god is "THE HOLY GHOST".
Why Larry Craig was tapping his foot in the bathroom?
Why Mark Foley was sexually harassing a 14 years old boy on the internet?
Why Bill Oreilly was sexually harassing a female at work place and why he later gave her $10 million to keep her mouth shut?
Because jesus died for their sins!
Isn''t that funny?
Sins committed by Adam and Eve, sinners are those new born children born in sins who can not even differentiate between what is a sin and what is not a sin, and the price is paid by a third party free of sins, named Jesus!
Christianity is psychosis and Christians are psychotics!
"We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4893190.ece
Of course he''s full of it. It keeps him well-heeled and flying around the globe on his brainwashing missions.
If money is nothing, why do they use it to compensate victims of priest molestation?
Tell the people who are thrown out of their homes for lack of money, and who can''t afford to eat, that money is nothing.
This guy must think we are a bunch of chumps.
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Funny. This statement from an organization that has over $500 Billion net in assets and pays no taxes.
The holy, god-loving, conservative, republican supporter christian man is "THE FATHER",
That young innocent little boy whose pant is pulled down in the name of "jesus" is "THE SON",
What is inserted in the "BACK HOLE" of that young innocent boy in the name of god is "THE HOLY GHOST".
Why Larry Craig was tapping his foot in the bathroom?
Why Mark Foley was sexually harassing a 14 years old boy on the internet?
Why Bill Oreilly was sexually harassing a female at work place and why he later gave her $10 million to keep her mouth shut?
Because jesus died for their sins!
Isn''t that funny?
Sins committed by Adam and Eve, sinners are those new born children born in sins who can not even differentiate between what is a sin and what is not a sin, and the price is paid by a third party free of sins, named Jesus!
Christianity is psychosis and Christians are psychotics!
None, apart from getting off from ranting and bleating?
LOL, he''s a FINE one to talk! his Vatican sits on a PRICELESS art collection worth billions of dollars, note the expensive chair he is on, you can bet the money that paid for that came from the dumb suckers who donate their money and it sure wasn''t bought at Wal-Mart.
This is why homosexuals hate all Christians. Homosexuality is the opposite of Christianity in that it is only for the self-absorbed who do care about or understand normal society.
When a man is not attracted to a woman, or vise versa, and instead is sexually attracted to another of the same ***, a child, animal or dead person, its all the same thing...and all bad.
Posted by gctomajtom at 01:06 PM : Dec 25, 2008
What would you call those priests who play "THE FATHER", "THE SON" and "THE HOLY SPIRIT" in the same churches where they denounce homosexuality? (The holy, god-loving, conservative, republican supporter christian man is "THE FATHER",
That young innocent little boy whose pant is pulled down in the name of "jesus" is "THE SON",
What is inserted in the "BACK HOLE" of that young innocent boy in the name of god is "THE HOLY GHOST").
Can some body say "hypocrisy"?
LOL, he''''s a FINE one to talk! his Vatican sits on a PRICELESS art collection worth billions of dollars, note the expensive chair he is on, you can bet the money that paid for that came from the dumb suckers who donate their money and it sure wasn''''t bought at Wal-Mart."
Posted by newster1
Not necessarily. The chair looks like a priceless antique - it could have been looted or paid from a victim of the Inquisition.
Rich people were routinely targeted by the pope so their property could be seized. Sometimes the victim did not survive the religious "cleansing".
Flames tend to have a detrimental effect on human tissue.
Posted by gctomajtom at 01:06 PM : Dec 25, 2008
I''m too tired to care to go into grand specifics (that nobody would be bothered to read anyway), because people prefer one-liners and shock jock drivel, but I can''t entirely disagree with your points. :( )
When a man is not attracted to a woman, or vise versa, and instead is sexually attracted to another of the same ***, a child, animal or dead person, its all the same thing...and all bad.
Posted by gctomajtom
Scientific research has shown that 98 percent of male *** fail to develop female attraction in the brain before birth. This is why homosexuals hate all Christians. Homosexuality is the opposite of Christianity in that it is only for the self-absorbed who do care about or understand normal society.
When a man is not attracted to a woman, or vise versa, and instead is sexually attracted to another of the same ***, a child, animal or dead person, its all the same thing...and all bad.
Posted by gctomajtom
Scientific research has shown that 98 percent of male *** are that way at and before birth. We all start out as females. We only become males attracted to females when testosterone changes that part of the brain that controls sexual attraction. We would call this a birth defect if it were a physical condition that we could see. Since we cannot see it we want to think that it is just abnormal behavior that *** choose. I am opposed to blaming someone that suffers from a birth depect.
LOL, he''''s a FINE one to talk!"
Posted by newster1 at 01:07 PM : Dec 25, 2008
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I agree. He''s a fine man.
A little out of touch, perhaps, but a fine man.
The Church should allow its priests to marry. They would be more in touch with the realities of life if they had wives and children, as Ministers and Rabbis do.
But be that as it may, he''s a fine man.
Actually, it"s the other way around.
Old age and disease claimed a lot of the survivors.
D*amn you, Charles Darwin.
The Pope and his church should practice what he preaches.
then they read this comment
So, he''''s planning on selling all the gold vatican trinkets to get money to give to the poor, right?
Posted by Smirk22
and they smile even more
love it
Posted by gctomajtom
Estimates for the Inquisition range from about 1,500 (by the Roman Catholic church) to as many as 5 million (probably too high). The esitmate that I accept (and that is not worth much) is 30,000.
Of course, the lie that "Christians hate homosexuals" isn''''t their biggest lie, just one of their most ignorant and spiteful. The biggest homosexual lie is that homosexuality is a "civil right." This is a sick idea from a group of people living in a se*x-induced fantasy land.
Posted by gctomajtom
I have heard more Christains speaking out against homosexuals than I have heard homosexuals speaking out against Christains. As a matter of fact, it has been reported that homosexual Chistains have spoken out against homosexuals. Then they get caught.
Posted by gctomajtom at 02:22 PM : Dec 25, 2008
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I''m not ever homosexual. Of course you"ll think that"s a lie too.
One need look no further than your posts to see and feel the seething homicidal hatred that many (not all) Christians feel for *** and lesbians.
It is fed and fueled by Bible quotes like these hate-filled verses:
"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." - Leviticus 20:13
"In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." - Romans 1:27
I meant, I"m not even homosexual.
In my case I"m not ever homosexual either.
In fact I don"t even like s*ex of any kind. I"d rather be reading a good book.
Posted by Smirk22 at 02:17 PM : Dec 25, 2008
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There is some great art in the Vatican that could be donated to public museums.
All the ornate costumes and finery of Catholic religious rituals seems vulgar and gaudy to me.
The Buddhist Tea Ceremony has the superior beauty of simplicity.
Posted by gctomajtom
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As I said, I"m not gay.
But lets not quarrel like this.
Not on Humphrey Bogart"s birthday.
Posted by BagdadsHere7 at 03:09 PM : Dec 25, 2008
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There"s a right and wrong way to do it ?...
Hey BagdadsHere7, life without m*asturbation can still be fulfilling.
You should give it a try before you knock it.
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