{"id":845,"date":"2012-01-01T12:19:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-01T12:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimdev8.com\/?p=845"},"modified":"2012-01-01T12:19:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-01T12:19:32","slug":"pope-cries-out-against-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/news\/pope-cries-out-against-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Benedict Cries Out Against War"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> On Christmas Eve in Rome,<\/strong> Pope Benedict XVI preached a powerful homily in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, saying that Christmas shows God\u2019s will to save people from sin and violence. The next day, Pope Benedict XVI repeated the message in his \u201curbi et orbi\u201d<\/em> (to the city and the world) Christmas message. \u201cThe child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace,\u201d the Pope said December 25 as he stood on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and gave his solemn Christmas blessing. Tens of thousands of people were gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square for the noon address and blessing. Under bright sunny skies, they listened to the music of military bands, admired the Vatican\u2019s Nativity scene and snapped pictures of the Swiss Guards, who were wearing armor over their colorful medieval uniforms. In his Christmas message, as in his homily at Mass the night before, Pope Benedict spoke about God\u2019s desire to save humanity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \u201cCome to save us!\u201d the Pope cried out. \u201cThis is the cry raised by men and women in every age, who sense that by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties and dangers. Pope Benedict said most of the world\u2019s problems are caused by human sin, \u201cthe evil of separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good and evil, to be the master of life and death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just before the Pope appeared at the balcony, news agencies reported a bomb blast at a Catholic Church on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria. Initial reports said there were more than 10 dead. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the blast, \u201cprecisely on the occasion of the celebration of Christmas, unfortunately once again is a sign of the ruthlessness of a blind and absurd hatred that has no regard for human life and tries to create and increase more hatred and confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

At midnight Mass December 24 in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, the Pope said, \u201cGod has appeared \u2014 as a child. It is in this guise that he pits himself against all violence and brings a message that is peace.\u201d Then the Pope went on to make a powerful plea for peace, and for the Lord\u2019s intervention against war-makers. \u201cAt this hour,\u201d the Pope said, \u201cwhen the world is continually threatened by violence in so many places and in so many different ways, when over and over again there are oppressors\u2019 rods and bloodstained cloaks, we cry out to the Lord: \u2018O mighty God, you have appeared as a child and you have revealed yourself to us as the One who loves us, the One through whom love will triumph.\u00a0 And you have shown us that we must be peacemakers with you.\u00a0 We love your childish estate, your powerlessness, but we suffer from the continuing presence of violence in the world, and so we also ask you: manifest your power, O God.\u00a0 In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors\u2019 rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours.\u201d Before Christ’s birth, ancient people feared that God might be \u201ccruel and arbitrary.\u201d Instead, Christmas proves that \u201cGod is pure goodness,” the pope said.<\/p>\n

He said Christmas is about the birth of the savior, the prince of peace, and not some sappy sentimentality. \u201cToday Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God\u2019s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity,\u201d he said. \u201cLet us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.\u201d At the end of the Mass, the children took the flowers to the Nativity scene in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, where a deacon placed the statue of baby Jesus. The Pope followed behind them on his mobile platform and when everything was in place, fake snow began to fall on the scene. It was the first time such snow has ever fallen in the basilica, according to L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Christmas Eve in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI preached a powerful homily in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, saying that Christmas shows God\u2019s will to save people from sin and violence. The next day, Pope Benedict XVI repeated the message in his \u201curbi et orbi\u201d (to the city and the world) Christmas message. \u201cThe child whom we contemplate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[85,86,87,76,88,89,90],"yoast_head":"\nBenedict Cries Out Against War - Inside The Vatican<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pope Benedict's homilies on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day contained powerful passages against war\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/news\/pope-cries-out-against-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benedict Cries Out Against War - 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