Posted on 12/25/2012 8:55:36 AM PST by marshmallow
AFP - Pope Benedict XVI said in his Christmas Eve mass on Monday that religion can be corrupted, leading to violence and wars, but refuted critics who claim that denying God's existence would lead to peace.
"It is true that religion can become corrupted... when people think they have to take God's cause into their own hands, making God into their private property," the pope told thousands gathered in Saint Peter's basilica.
"Monotheism, belief in one God, is said to be arrogance, a cause of intolerance, because by its nature, with its claim to possess the sole truth, it seeks to impose itself on everyone," Benedict said.
However, "while there is no denying a certain misuse of religion in history, yet it is not true that denial of God would lead to peace," he added.
"Down the centuries, while there has been misuse of religion, it is also true that forces of reconciliation and goodness have constantly sprung up from faith in the God," said Benedict, whose campaign against religious violence is one of the cornerstones of his papacy.
The spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics also said that the speed of modern life left no time for God, and called on the faithful to make "room at the inn" for the world's poor and suffering.
"I am repeatedly struck by the Gospel writer's almost casual remark that there was no room for them at the inn," he said in reference to the story of Christ's birth in a stable because Mary and Joseph could find no other refuge.
"Inevitably the question arises, what would happen if Mary and Joseph were to knock at my door. Would there be room for them?" the 85-year-old said.
"Do we not actually turn away God himself? There is no room....
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
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