Not been impressed with Benedict.....though JP2 was a pretty tough act to follow.
On Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 8:32 PM, Larry Lyons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Darn it I've got to get busy. > > http://tinyurl.com/29gazx > > Vatican lists new sinful behaviors > > * Story Highlights > * Drugs, pollution, genetic manipulation are now included > * Update announced in Vatican daily, "L'Osservatore Romano" > * Sinners risk burning in hell unless absolved through confession and > penitence > * Recent survey finds 60 percent of Italian Catholics don't go to > confession > > ROME, Italy (AP) -- A Vatican official has listed drugs, pollution and > genetic manipulations as well as social and economic injustices as new areas > of sinful behavior. > > Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said in an interview published on Sunday by > the Vatican's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, that known sins > increasingly manifest themselves as behavior that damages society as a > whole. > > Girotti, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican body that issues > decisions on matters of conscience and grants absolutions told the paper > that whilst sin used to concern the individual mostly, today it had a mainly > a social resonance, due to the phenomenon of globalization. > > Catholic teaching distinguishes between lesser, so-called venial sins, and > mortal sins. > > When asked to list the new areas of sinful behavior, Girotti denounced > "certain violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through > experiments, genetic manipulations." > > He also mentioned drugs, which weaken the mind and obscure intelligence; > pollution; as well as the widening social and economic differences between > the rich and the poor that "cause an unbearable social injustice." > > Girotti said the Catholic Church continued to be concerned by other sinful > acts, including abortion and pedophilia. > > He said Church authorities had reacted with rigorous measures to child > abuse scandals within the clergy, but he also claimed that the issue had > been excessively emphasized by the media. > > His comments came at the end of a week-long Vatican conference on > confession. > > A recent survey said that 60 percent of Italian Catholics do not go to > confession. > > Traditionally the Catholic church has had a list of seven deadly sins, > that of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride established by > Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century. > > The terms entered the popular vocabulary after the publication of Dante's > "Divine Comedy." > > The deadly sins are in contrast with venial sins - relatively minor sins > that can be forgiven. > > A person that commits a mortal sin risks burning in hell unless absolved > through confession and penitence. > > Now the Vatican says it is time to modernize the list to fit a global > world. > > On hearing the Girotti's suggestion, some priests thought it was a good > idea. > > Father Antonio Pelayo, a Spanish priest and Vatican expert noted that it > is time for both sinners and confessors to get over their obsession with sex > and think about other ways humans hurt each other in the world in which they > live. > > "There are many other sins that are perhaps much more grave that don't > have anything to do with sex - that have to do with life, that have to do > with the environment, that have to do with justice," he told AP Television. > > Father Greg Apparcel, a local priest said that the Pope may have been > talking About this aspect of sin as a response to the recent "Italian > confession" survey. > > Apparcel also hinted that the announcement may have a wider agenda ahead > of the Holy Father's trip to the United States and his speech to the United > Nations. > > "There is some sound going around that perhaps he is going to speak about > ecology and environment, and if he does, this is kind of preparation for > that," he said. > > Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may > not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:256143 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
