2009-06-01 14:24:37

Pope says pleasure and violence are “poisoning” spiritual life


(June 1, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that today's focus on products that promote pleasure and violence was “poisoning” spiritual life. In the same way the world is fighting environmental pollution with new ecological initiatives, the same must be done to fight the pollution that is corrupting hearts and minds, the Holy Father said in his homily during the Pentecost Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Observed 50 days after Easter, Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the apostles, an event that is regarded as the birth of the Church. “What the air is to biological life, the Holy Spirit is to spiritual life,” Pope Benedict said hinting at today’s moral degradation. “In the same way as there is atmospheric pollution that poisons the environment and its human beings, there is also a pollution of the heart and spirit that kills and poisons spiritual existence,” he said. The German-born Pope has frequently lamented how the entertainment industry and the media sensationalize sex and violence. On Sunday, he didn't specify who was responsible for making the products and images “that make a show of pleasure, violence or the disregard for man and woman” which he said the world was increasingly getting used to. “In the same way as we cannot get used to the poisons in the air, and for this reason the ecological challenge is such a priority today, we must do the same to fight that which corrupts the spirit,” he said.







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