Pope explains Original Sin, evil in the light of Immaculate Conception
(December 8, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI used Monday’s solemn feast of the Immaculate
Conception to explain the Church’s doctrine of Original Sin saying Christ’s victory
over sin and evil shines in a very sublime manner in Mary Most Holy. The Pope spoke
at the midday ‘Angelus’ prayer on December 8th, a holiday both in Italy
and the Vatican. The Catholic Church’s dogma of the Immaculate Conception, promulgated
by Pope Pius IX in 1884, teaches that in view of the graces and merits of her son
Jesus Christ, Mary was conceived in her mother’s womb without any stain of original
sin, as a result of which she also lived a life completely free from sin. “The existence
of what the Church calls ‘original sin’ is unfortunately evident in a chilling manner,
if only we look around us and above all within us, “the Pope told a large holiday
crowd in St. Peter’s Square. He said that the existence of evil is so consistent
and overwhelming that we often ask ourselves: “Where does it come from?” The question
of a believer is even more profound: “If God who has created everything is Absolute
Good, where does evil come from?” In response, Pope Benedict pointed to the Book
of Genesis of the Bible that says that God did not create death but death came in
to the world because of the jealousy of Satan who misled man to rebel against God.
It is a drama of freedom in which God promised that a son will be born of a woman
who will crush the head of the ancient serpent. This woman, the Pope explained, has
a face and a name: Mary, “Full of Grace,” the Mother of God, who was the first of
be freed from the first fall of our first parents. Pope Benedict also greeted English-speaking
pilgrims present at Monday’s ‘Angelus’. Listen: