By John-Henry Westen
VATICAN CITY, August 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The full text and audio of the lengthy interview with Pope Benedict XVI and the German media has been released by the Radio Vatican news service. In the interview life and family issues are discussed, but the way in which the Holy Father responded to the leading questions reveals much. The interview comes as a lead up to the Pope’s visit to his homeland of Bavaria which is scheduled to take place between September 9 and 14.
One of the questions by German media demonstrated how out of touch with reality much of the media are, and also how out of touch with the Vatican.“Throughout the world believers are waiting for the Catholic Church to answer the most urgent global problems, like AIDS and overpopulation. Why does the Catholic Church pay so much attention to moral issues rather than suggesting concrete solutions to these problems that are so crucial to humanity, in Africa, for example?,” asked a German journalist.
With even the United Nations now having long acknowledged an end to the mythical ‘overpopulation’ problem and most countries facing the devastating effects of birth rates below replacement rate, the question suggesting ‘overpopulation’ as one of the most urgent global problems would have caused the Pope some amusement. This is especially so since the Vatican has been very vocal in demonstrating the statistical evidence for the underpopulation trend, even publicly encouraging the United Nations and ambassadors to the Vatican to take the issue more seriously. (See related coverage: Vatican to UN: Be “Sane” and Get out of the Population Control Business https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06040601.htmlÂVatican Cardinal: “We are realizing the worst prophecies of aging and demographic implosion”https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06013103.html )
In response to the leading question, the Pope said, “So that’s the problem: do we really pay so much attention to moral issues?” He then went on to suggest that the real problem we are facing is in fact that morality has not kept pace with technological advancements.Â
“Progress becomes true progress only if it serves the human person and if the human person grows: not only in terms of his or her technical power, but also in his or her moral awareness,” he said.“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. 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.”
With only technical know-how the Pope warned we are destined for wars and AIDS.“But if we only teach know-how, 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,” he said.
An interviewer from the German-language service of Vatican Radio pointed out that Pope Benedict on his trip to Spain in addressing the World Meeting of Families “never mentioned the words ‘homosexual marriage,’ never spoke about abortion, or about contraception.” The questioner supposed thus that “Clearly your idea is to go around the world preaching the faith rather than as an ‘apostle of morality’.
However, in response, Benedict XVI noted that he only had limited time to speak and wanted first to emphasize the positive.“Actually I should say I had only two opportunities to speak for twenty minutes. And when you have so little time you can’t say everything you want to say about ‘no’.” He explained, “Firstly you have to know what we really want, right? Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions: it’s a positive option.”
While in Spain last month the media was hungry for the Pope to condemn the Spanish government and its new laws promoting homosexual marriage. At the time Benedict explained “I would not like to begin immediately with the negative aspects, because I am thinking of families that love one another, that are happy. We want to encourage this reality which is really the reality that gives hope for the future.” He explained the reasoning behind the approach stating, “we underline these positive things and in that way we make it understood why the Church cannot accept certain things.”
During the recent interview he also addressed abortion from this positive perspective. After acknowledging that it pertains to the fifth commandment “Thou shalt not kill”, the Pope said: “We have to presume this is obvious and always stress that the human person begins in the mother’s womb and remains a human person until his or her last breath. The human person must always be respected as a human person.”
Read the full text of the interview or listen to it online:
https://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=91054
https://62.77.60.84/audio/ra/00057357.RM