Pope’s new book covers grave problems of society

(November 24, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI’s new book released on Tuesday stresses that the role of the church in a largely broken world, is not to impose a burden of moral values but to open the doors to God. Titled “Light of the world: the Pope, the Church and the signs of the times”, the 219-page book calls for a global examination of conscience in the face of moral decline, economic disparity and environmental disasters. The book is a lengthy interview of the Pope by Peter Seewald, a German journalist. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion the new Evangelization, who presented the book to the Press said the many questions that compose the interview, serve to highlight the nature of the Church, the service that the Pope is called to carry out, and the mission he still needs to continue today to be faithful to the Lord.
The book reveals a less formal side of the Pope, as he responds simply and clearly to the questions on a wide range of topics, such as sex and condoms, clerical sex abuse scandal, homosexuality, relations with Islam, abortion, divorce, ecumenism and the threatening catastrophe facing Humanity. An entire chapter is taken up by the clerical abuse scandal. The Pope describes it as a great crises that left him stunned by how some of the Church members fail to follow Christ. The Pope however, expresses optimism about the Church’s recovery from the scandal, saying God continues to raise up saints. The Pope also says he understands why some Catholics, particularly victims, have responded by leaving the Church.
Much of the book deals with the Pope’s strategy for presenting the Church’s message in a largely skeptical world. Noting that the essential problem today, is the prevailing model of economic and social progress that leaves out God and lacks ethical values, the Pope says “It is urgent to bring the question of God back into the center, to see that God exists, that God matters to us and He answers us. The Pope said the Church can do this, only if its members live the faith in their daily lives.