Why can angels fly? A wide ranging 2006 interview with Pope Benedict
(Vatican Radio) Why can angels fly? Because they don’t take themselves too seriously!
Pope Benedict reflects on his own sense of humour, his job, the future of the Catholic
Church and lots more in a 2006 interview with media, just over one year after his
election to the papacy.
“Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions,”
says the Pope; “it’s a positive option.” But, he laments, “this idea has almost
completely disappeared today. We’ve heard so much about what is not allowed that
now it’s time to say we have a positive idea to offer.”
The new pontiff also
fields questions on the Church’s position on AIDS in Africa and overpopulation:
“I
believe that the real problem of our historical moment lies in the imbalance between
the incredibly fast growth of our technical power and that of our moral capacity which
has not grown in proportion. That’s why the formation of the human person is the
recipe, the key to it all I would say. And this is what the Church proposes...”
“If
we only teach know-how, if we only teach how to build and use machines and how to
use contraceptives, then we shouldn’t be surprised when we find ourselves facing wars
and AIDS epidemics. Because we need two dimensions, simultaneously. We need the
formation of the heart…”
In this program from our archives by Tracey McClure,
we are re-introduced to the Pope Benedict at the start of his nearly 8 year pontificate,
giving us some insight into his later years and decision to resign.
Hear
what he has to say on Christianity in the Middle East and Europe, women in the Church,
and his travels. Plus, does he think being Pope is a burden and is he ever lonely? . Listen
to this program by Tracey McClure: