Politics
Monday February 6, 2006
Pope Condemns “Hedonism” as Inspiration for Abortion
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By Terry Vanderheyden
VATICAN CITY, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI, in addresses Sunday, fingered “widespread hedonism” as the source for the lack of respect for human life that underlies abortion in society.
Addressing 40,000 pilgrims led by Italian Prelate Cardinal Camillo Ruini who came to commemorate Italy’s Day for Life, the Pope said, “Each human life, such as it is . . . deserves and demands that it be protected and promoted. We know only too well that this truth is often put at risk by today’s widespread hedonism, our pursuit of a so-called society of well being. When this happens human life is exalted as long as it fascinates us and gives us pleasure, but when it is shadowed by illness or when it is no longer attractive, then it is no longer respected,” according to an AsiaNews report.
Addressing the Vatican Parish of St. Anne’s earlier in the day, Pope Benedict explained the key differences between the modern view towards life and that held by Christians. “Simplified: one maintains that human life is in the hands of man, the other in the hands of God,” he said. “Modern culture has legitimately emphasized man’s autonomy and earthly reality, in this way developing a perspective dear to the heart of Christianity, that of the Incarnation of God. But, as Vatican II clearly stated, if this leads to the opinion that ‘all things created do not depend on God and that man can adapt them without reference to the creator,’ then, the origins for profound instability are laid.”
See AsiaNews coverage:
http://asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5300
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