|
|
 |
|
CNS Story:
|
POPE-INTERVIEW Aug-14-2006 (1,240 words) With photo posted Aug. 7. xxxi
Pope discusses Middle East, morality in wide-ranging interview
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a lengthy TV and radio interview, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to fighting in the Middle East and said he hopes to travel to the Holy Land "in a time of peace."
The pope also explained some of the priorities of his papacy, saying he was convinced the church needs to frame its moral teachings in a positive way and shed the image of an institution that always says "no."
The interview with German media was broadcast Aug. 13, eight days after it was recorded at the pope's summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. It was aired in advance of the pope's scheduled visit to his native Bavaria region of Germany Sept. 9-14. Translations of the German transcript were made available by the Vatican.
The pope addressed a wide range of topics, including ecumenical cooperation, the role of women in the church, and the unifying function of the papacy. He also offered some personal insights into the burdens of being pope.
"It really is tiring," he said of his schedule. But the 79-year-old pontiff said he enjoyed the continual encounters with bishops, politicians and other personalities "who want to talk to me personally."
Despite having to live behind the Vatican walls, he said, "to tell the truth, I'm not that lonely."
Seated on a gilded throne, the pope looked at ease as he fielded questions from four reporters, including a correspondent from Vatican Radio's German program.
Asked about the situation in Lebanon, the pope said everyone has to realize that "war is the worst solution for all sides." He expressed concern about the Christian community in Lebanon and warned of the danger of the emigration of Christians from the entire region.
"I'd like to visit the Holy Land, and I hope to visit it in a time of peace," he said.
The pope said that although he's never felt strong enough to plan many long trips he would do so if he feels he can "communicate a message." He confirmed that he would visit Brazil next year for a meeting of Latin American bishops, saying his presence there would help "strengthen the hope that's so alive in that part of the world."
Asked why, during a recent visit to Spain, he didn't specifically address hot-button issues like gay marriage or abortion, the pope said he wanted to present a positive message and not overemphasize the negative.
"Christianity, Catholicism, isn't a collection of prohibitions: It's a positive option," he said.
"We've heard so much about what is not allowed that now it's time to say: We have a positive idea to offer, that man and woman are made for each other," and that marriage develops as a "joyful and blessing-filled encounter between a man and a woman," he said.
When the church does oppose social or political developments, he said, it should "say it first in a positive way" and make sure people understand, for example, that marriage between a man and a woman "is not a Catholic invention" but a value shared by all cultures.
The pope said the church's basic challenge in modern society is to try to bridge the gap between technological progress and morality.
"I believe that the real problem of our historical moment lies in the imbalance between the incredibly fast growth of our technical power and that of our moral capacity, which has not grown in proportion," he said.
"That's why the formation of the human person is the true recipe, the key to it all, I would say, and this is what the church proposes," he said.
He said teaching "know-how" is never enough.
"If we only teach how to build and to use machines and how to use contraceptives, then we shouldn't be surprised when we find ourselves facing wars and AIDS epidemics. Because we need two dimensions: simultaneously we need the formation of the heart," he said.
In the battle against AIDS and other social ills, the pope suggested that the church's role is misrepresented or misunderstood as a negative one.
"We offer treatment, treatment to AIDS victims too, and we offer education, helping to establish good relationships with others. So I think we should correct that image that sees the church as spreading severe 'noes,'" he said.
The pope said a basic problem afflicting Western society was a new wave of secularization and a loss of the sense of the sacred. Some African and Asian cultures, he said, are "horrified" by the West's rational approach and its coldness toward God.
He said the church needs to underline that "believing is beautiful" and show that the Christian faith in the West is an integrating force in society and not part of "the trash of history."
On internal church matters, the pope said he planned to hold consistories regularly, convening cardinals to "discuss current problems together and look for solutions." He said his frequent one-on-one talks with bishops also favor a mutual exchange.
Everyone knows the pope is "not an absolute monarch," he said, but there's a strong awareness that the church needs a unifying figure that can "guarantee independence from political powers" and make sure Christians don't identify too much with nationalism.
The pope addressed several other topics:
-- He said women have always had an important role in the church, but said the faith does not allow women's ordination as priests. While noting that women today carry out important functions at the Vatican, he noted a juridical problem: Church law says the power to make legally binding decisions is limited to sacred orders.
"So there are limitations from this point of view, but I believe that women themselves, with their energy and strength, with their predominance as it were, with their 'spiritual power,' will know how to make their own space," he said.
"And we will have to try and listen to God so as not to stand in their way but, on the contrary, to rejoice when the female element achieves the fully effective place in the church best suited to her," he said.
-- On the number of saints in the church, the pope said he had deliberately "decentralized" the beatification process, leaving such ceremonies to local church leaders so that local figures could inspire Catholics of that specific country or region. Those canonized, or declared saints, should be examples for the whole church, he said.
The idea is to motivate people with models of holiness, without overloading them with too many figures.
"I can imagine some wonderful films" about the lives of saints, he said.
-- Speaking about relations with the Evangelical Church in Germany and about ecumenism in general, the pope said a priority today is for Christians to work together to clarify and put into practice "ethical directives" in society. Moreover, Christians must also "witness to God in a world that has problems finding him," he said, demonstrating their belief that "humanity is not an evolutionary product that turned out badly. We are the image of God."
-- Addressing a question about the role of humor in the life of a pope, he said: "I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically. I'd also say it's necessary for my ministry."
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
