Visiting the Major Seminary of Rome, Benedict XVI emphasizes that the Christian must not "conform himself" to powers which “almost demand adoration” such as the world of finance and the media, which risk transforming the world into a virtual reality.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Even today there is much talk of the Church of Rome, of many things, we hope they will also speak of our faith, the exemplary faith of the Church of Rome." The phrase was pronounced yesterday by Benedict XVI during his visit to the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary, where he also remained for dinner.

The Pope began by commenting on a passage from the Letter to the Romans, where St. Paul calls on them not to be conformed to this world, but to allow themselves be transformed in order to discern the will of God. In this sense he indicated the power that the world of finance and media have today.  "The world of finance - he said - no longer represents an instrument to favour our wellbeing, to favour the life of mankind, instead  it has become an oppressive power, that almost demands our adoration, mammon, the false divinity that truly dominates the world. Faced with conformity and submission to this power we are non conformists: it is not having, but being that counts!. We do not submit to this, we use it as a means, but with the freedom of the children of God".

And often information does not always report what is said or written, so that the virtual world risks becoming more important than the real world. In this context, "the non-conformity of the Christian redeems us, restores us to the truth. Let us ask the Lord to help us to be free men in this non-conformity that is not against the world, but it is true love in the world."

These are concepts that fall in line with the "rediscovery" of the spiritual that marks the pontificate of Benedict XVI, in his continued emphasis on the love of God and his pushing of Christians and the Church itself to appropriate the word of God.  It is also in this context that we draw near to the beginning of the Year of the faith. Moreover, it is a thought that the then Cardinal Ratzinger clearly expressed in the 2001 Synod, when he spoke of a auto-secularization of bishops, of the bishops and Church being distracted by internal problems, "while the world is hungry for God ".

This is all consistent with the his papacy's emphasis on the desire to make a clarity and transparency a characteristic of Church life and institutions. "How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, should belong entirely to Him!" He wrote in 2005, in his meditations for the Stations of the Cross.

That same year he became pope, Benedict XVI demanded rigor in the fight against child sexual abuse, which now sees the Catholic Church as perhaps the most careful institution in the world on this painful issue. In a completely separate sphere, but with same logic, the norm that provides for the full inclusion of the Holy See on the "white list" of states that have the highest standards of financial transparency in the world.

But all of this is negligible in the media's coverage: a great deal of space rather is given over to delirious plots to murder the Pope, leaks and arguments among churchmen.

 

"We hope they also speak of our faith, the exemplary faith of the Church of Rome." (FP)

 

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