Pope says sense of God helps build just society

(May 04, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday denounced the loss of the sense of God from public life saying it leads to greater injustice and provokes violence. He made the observation on Friday in a common speech addressed to a group of ambassadors from 5 nations. The new ambassadors of Malaysia, Ireland, Ethiopia, Fiji and Armenia to the Holy See presented their credentials to the Pope at a formal ceremony in the Vatican. The Pope noted that migration to cities, armed conflicts, famine and disease that afflict many people, have led to a dramatic increase in poverty, which has taken new forms. The economic crisis is dragging more and more families towards a growing precariousness. When poverty coexists alongside great wealth, sentiments of injustice spreads, leading to possible revolts, the Pope observed. Therefore states should watch out so that social norms do not lead to inequality, and allow all to live in a decent way. In this regard, Pope Benedict cautioned against another type of poverty, which is caused by the loss of reference to spiritual values, to God. The loss of God, he explained, makes it even more difficult to distinguish between good and evil, between personal interests and the common good. The Pope thus appealed to nations to guarantee the freedom of religion and to value cultural and religious heritage. “Religion,” he stressed, “allows us to recognize in the other a brother in humanity.” Given the possibility of knowing God in full freedom one can help forge a strong inner personality that makes of him/her a witness of goodness. In this way, the Pope said, one can build a society where sobriety and brotherhood will help reduce poverty, and take precedence over the indifference and selfishness of profit and waste, particularly exclusion.
In his speech to the new ambassadors the Pope also drew the attention to the situation of young people, many of whom in their quest for the ideal, he said, turn to artificial paradises which destroy them. Addiction, consumerism and materialism, he said, cannot fill the human heart. This is why the lack of love is the greatest poverty, the Pope said and encouraged all, especially families, to aim at an education that awakens the spiritual dimension of man.