Pope Praises U.S., but Warns of Secular Challenges
上一篇 / 下一篇 2008-04-19 22:16:24 / 个人分类：English resources
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JOHN SULLIVAN
Published: April 17, 2008
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI addressed American Catholic bishops on Wednesday evening and praised the United States as “a land of great faith.” But he cautioned that the country’s secular tradition often led to a gradual separation of religious guidelines from daily life and an acceptance of divorce, abortion and cohabitation outside marriage.
“Perhaps America’s brand of secularism poses a particular problem,” the pope said, according to the prepared text of his speech. “It allows for professing belief in God, and respects the public role of religion and the churches, but at the same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator.”
Speaking after a prayer service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Benedict told the gathered bishops that the church must establish its teachings as central to people’s daily life.
“I believe that the church in America, at this point in her history, is faced with the challenge of recapturing the Catholic vision of reality and presenting it, in an engaging and imaginative way, to a society which markets any number of recipes for human fulfillment,” he said.
The pope touched on the sexual abuse scandal that has torn through the church in recent years, involving allegations against more than 5,000 priests and settlements and fees costing $2 billion. The pope called such behavior. “evil” and said many people had “spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior.”
Speaking frequently of his fondness for the American church and people, the pope also demonstrated his adherence to church doctrine, speaking of the threat posed by a “growing separation of faith from life.”
“This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to religion and faith,” he said. “Each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law of Christ.”
The address at the basilica came after a prayer service there. This was the pope’s second appearance on Wednesday; he met with President Bush earlier at the White House.
Some 13,500 people, including senators and other Washington celebrities, crowded the South Lawn for that historic arrival ceremony, conducted under clear, cloudless skies.
The 81-year-old pontiff, who celebrates his birthday on Wednesday, was greeted by the peal of trumpets and a 21-gun salute, and treated to a rendition of “Happy Birthday” by the crowd.
Benedict called for “support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress” around the world.
The pope and the president had a private meeting in the Oval Office after the public ceremony. The White House issued a statement afterward saying the two “devoted considerable time in their discussions” to the Middle East, particularly resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as well as “their common concern for the situation in Iraq and particularly the precarious state of Christian communities there and elsewhere in the region.” The pope has in the past expressed his opposition to the war.
“Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted,” he said.
（news from NY Times）
Published: April 17, 2008
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI addressed American Catholic bishops on Wednesday evening and praised the United States as “a land of great faith.” But he cautioned that the country’s secular tradition often led to a gradual separation of religious guidelines from daily life and an acceptance of divorce, abortion and cohabitation outside marriage.
“Perhaps America’s brand of secularism poses a particular problem,” the pope said, according to the prepared text of his speech. “It allows for professing belief in God, and respects the public role of religion and the churches, but at the same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator.”
Speaking after a prayer service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Benedict told the gathered bishops that the church must establish its teachings as central to people’s daily life.
“I believe that the church in America, at this point in her history, is faced with the challenge of recapturing the Catholic vision of reality and presenting it, in an engaging and imaginative way, to a society which markets any number of recipes for human fulfillment,” he said.
The pope touched on the sexual abuse scandal that has torn through the church in recent years, involving allegations against more than 5,000 priests and settlements and fees costing $2 billion. The pope called such behavior. “evil” and said many people had “spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior.”
Speaking frequently of his fondness for the American church and people, the pope also demonstrated his adherence to church doctrine, speaking of the threat posed by a “growing separation of faith from life.”
“This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to religion and faith,” he said. “Each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law of Christ.”
The address at the basilica came after a prayer service there. This was the pope’s second appearance on Wednesday; he met with President Bush earlier at the White House.
Some 13,500 people, including senators and other Washington celebrities, crowded the South Lawn for that historic arrival ceremony, conducted under clear, cloudless skies.
The 81-year-old pontiff, who celebrates his birthday on Wednesday, was greeted by the peal of trumpets and a 21-gun salute, and treated to a rendition of “Happy Birthday” by the crowd.
Benedict called for “support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress” around the world.
The pope and the president had a private meeting in the Oval Office after the public ceremony. The White House issued a statement afterward saying the two “devoted considerable time in their discussions” to the Middle East, particularly resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as well as “their common concern for the situation in Iraq and particularly the precarious state of Christian communities there and elsewhere in the region.” The pope has in the past expressed his opposition to the war.
“Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted,” he said.
（news from NY Times）
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