Ten Commandments are God's recipe for a good life, pope says
(Sept. 11, 2012) The Ten Commandments are a gift from God to help people live a correct
relationship with God and with others, Pope Benedict XVI said. "God gave us the commandments
to educate us about true freedom and authentic love so that we could be truly happy,"
he said in a video message played on Saturday (Sept. 8) in Rome's Piazza del Popolo.
The big public square in Italy's capital was the site of the launch of "Ten Piazzas
for the Ten Commandments," a project of the Italian charismatic renewal movement,
the Italian bishops' conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.
The project comprising evenings of reflection, music and dance will focus on a different
commandment in a different city each month. Pope Benedict said people may ask what
sense the Ten Commandments have today in cultures heavily marked by secularism and
relativism. The answer, he said, is that the commandments are "a sign of the love
of God the Father and his desire to teach us the correct discernment between good
and evil, true and false, just and unjust." Those who ignore the precepts taught in
the Ten Commandments not only move away from God, but they move away from lasting
happiness, he said. "Man left to himself, indifferent to God and proud of his absolute
autonomy, ends up following the idols of selfishness, power and domination, which
in turn poison relationships with others, Pope Benedict said. On the other hand, he
said, "accepting the infinite love of God, trusting him and obeying the Ten Commandments
gives deep meaning to one's life and opens a future of hope."