Posted on 12/19/2004 10:40:41 AM PST by wagglebee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul has warned against rampant materialism which he says suffocates the spirit of Christmas.
Speaking to thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Sunday, the 84-year-old Pope urged Christians to keep the symbols of Christmas, the nativity crib and the tree, at the centre of their celebrations.
"The message of the Christmas tree is that life is always green if you give, not many material things, but of yourself through friendship and sincere affection, through help and forgiveness, by spending time together and listening to each other," he said.
"The feast of Christmas, perhaps the most dear of the popular traditions, is rich in symbols related to many cultures. Among them all, the most important is certainly the crib," the Pope said, overlooking the life-size nativity scene that stands in St. Peter's Square each year.
The Vatican is waging an increasingly high-profile campaign to remind Roman Catholic Italy not to compromise the spirit of Christmas through excess or dumb it down out of fear of offending a growing Muslim population.
Vatican officials in recent weeks have criticised the Madame Tussaud's nativity scene which shows David Beckham and his wife Victoria as Joseph and Mary, and an Italian school that swapped its traditional nativity play for Red Riding Hood.
A poll released by a marketing magazine on Sunday revealed more than 50 Italian priests had demanded a ban on what they called trash television until after the New Year to show respect for the holiday's Christian roots.
I think a good way to sting the Democrats is to pass a congressional resolution declaring that the purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Let the Dems get on record voting against that.
The 'Rats in Congress will do the same thing they did a couple of years ago when the "united" behind keeping "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. They will support it publicly and then, work like crazy to get their leftist judges to make Christmas unconstitutional.
We're fighting to keep Christ in Christmas, and he's bitchin' about presents.....please.
Sick.
I think he has lost it, and someone else is making all the decisions.
We are fighting for the very existance of Christmas. Against all the leftist, marxist, communists, etc...etc..etc.
Giving gifts should be the least of his worries.
One step at a time.
AND, they are going to help defend AZIZ....ain't that the kicker though?
It has nothing to do with cathloics....it has to do with that man spitting out all that crap lately.
You don't see anything wrong with the pope sending lawyers to help defend Tarriq Aziz?
You don't see anything wrong with the church's lack of indignation and revulsion at the pedophile priest scandal? You don't see anything wrong with the church paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in hush money and law suit settlements. That, I am pretty sure the people didn't donate that money to pay off children and their families.
I could go on and on. If you want to feel sorry for someone...fell sorry for the church and the pope that leads it.
Who ever is the head of it, they have more pressing problems facing them than Christmas presents.
Yes, and let us keep MASS in Christmas, too!
Indeed, the commercialization of Christmas is repulsive.
Of course, the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas. So let us all celebrate....pagans & Christians alike....
Right. Yule was big in northern Europe long before they became Christian.
Still, we're fighting a cultural war here and we have to support a Christian Christmas for that reason, even if we don't swallow the religious aspects of it.
The Catholic Church is a very confused organization. Many of their clergy actually embrace Marxism - or at least Marxist principles and spew leftist rhetoric with the best of them. I'll cite the Jesuit's support of the Nicaraguan Sandanistas as an example.
This is a war to keep Christmas. something the left is trying to annihilate.
I don't really understand the churchs core anymore. How can the pope, who remembers the Nazis, be so cavalier about the oppression Saddam was heaping on the Iraqis heads?
I don't understand it.
The inside of her church was magnificent. I had never seen the inside of a Catholic church before and the sight of it awed me.
I don't know what the sermon was about, I was too busy looking at it's beauty.
Some of you seem to expect the Pope to deliver all of the Catholic Church's messages with each speech. So, he makes one point about commercialism at Christmas. Does that mean he needs to also mention a) his opposition to same sex marriages (which he did recently) b) keeping Christ in Christmas, c) helping the poor, d) priest abuse, so on and so on...
Incidentally, have you noticed that going to church seems to be the only place to say the name of Jesus Christ and feel safe these days. Seems to this day that Jesus and his teachings are still radical.
Why does the Pope care about the material side of Christmas? We know it's not about Santa and Rudolph.
I think that any way we can keep the word Christmas alive we need to do it. If it means the pagan ritual of gift giving, so what? I always return to the Three Wise Men when I get to presents.
I see a lot of churches as money grubbing scam artist. Using God, so people will fill the offering plate.
I always watched Billy Graham when his revivals were on tv. I hope his son does as well as he did. God help to do so.
And don't forget the most important aspect......we are a capitalist society.
Great photo. All I can say is that God gave us a free will - and He will be the judge of it in the end. Could be He'll knock you up side of the head for not taking advantage of a good sale and donating your savings to His cause. :-)
LOLOLOL. knock him up side the head...that was rich...LOLOLOL
Just reading that stores are not very impressed (so far)
* Retailers See Little Late Holiday Buying *
Late Holiday Shopping Traffic Disappoints Retailers As Buying Bonanza Appears to Evaporate
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/041219/holiday_shopping_6.html
No doubt everyone is holding out until the post-Christmas sales.
May all your wishes come true.
That's a truly mind numbing statement.
It should wonderfully temper the arrogant attitude here toward all those "on the other side" (liberals, media types, Democrats, etc.), or at least give us pause, but I doubt if it will.
What a heart wrenching shame.
God gave you the grace to glimpse the first baby step toward worship and you didn't recognize it.
Don't fret ... He never gives up!
My heartfelt wish is that you, my brother, shall spend eternity with Paul, and I with Peter.
Merry Christmas.
And don't forget the most important aspect......we are a capitalist society.
For heaven's sake back off a little Miz Brown (or put the (/sarcasm) on?).
You're forcing me to rethink my lifelong good opinion of the Grahams!
You mean that supporting Christian traditions is wrong unless you're a true believer? Political expediency is anathema to you even when it helps you, eh?
In a word, yes.
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