At a huge outdoor mass in Paris, attended by more than 250,000 Catholics and assisted by more than 900 priests, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the world’s passion for power, possessions and money. In a city known for its collective love of luxury goods, expensive fashions, and priceless art items, the irony of his message did not go unnoticed. For a look at the pontiff’s arrival go to CNN’s video at http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/09/12/vo.pope.arrives.paris.ap
Benedict, who was visiting France for the first time since being declared Pope in 2005, likened modern society’s love of material goods to the pagans of antiquity, when people worshiped idols and when personal possessions often came before more worthwhile pursuits. He was following in the footsteps of his predecessor, John Paul II, who often opined that the consumerism which seemed to be overcoming the western world was disrupting the basic spiritual values upon which the Catholic church had been built.
The late-morning mass ended peacefully, with followers pressing for a chance to greet the pontiff as he left the field and the 9000 security officers unneeded.
Following the mass, Benedict travelled to Lourdes on a pilgrimage to the shrine which draws millions of visits each year, hoping for miracle cures of physical or psychic ills. His visit coincides with the 150th anniversary of the Virgin Mary appearing to a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, at the shrine and the Catholic Church has recognized as miracles, the healings of sick pilgrims who visited Lourdes.
Earlier in his four-day visit, the German-born Pope had addressed an audience at the Elysée Palace, stressing France's Catholic heritage. He also talked abut the environment, the European Union, and the widening gap between rich and poor. He said that President Nicolas Sarkozy’s to the Vatican in December was enjoyed and stated that France had contributed much to the Catholic Church over the past 20 centuries.
Historically, the Catholic Church was powerful in France until the French Revolution in 1789, when church properties were destroyed or taken away by the rebelling oppressed masses and given to the people. In 1801, Napoleon made peace with the church and returned some remaining cathedrals and abbeys, restoring Catholicism as the official state religion. He’s quoted as having said that a society without religion is like a ship without a compass.
Today, France is still a Catholic country. Out of 60 million inhabitants, 46 million state their religion as Catholics, with only one million Protestants, 4 million Muslims, and about 650,000 Jewish. But 70 percent of those who call themselves Catholics never go to church; about 20 percent practice occasionally, and only 10 percent regularly go to Sunday mass.
Pope Benedict praised France for the deep Christian roots of its culture and pleaded with the French to keep God in their lives and let religion help create a better world.
