"Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice"

The following quotation is from Pope Benedict's mid-flight press conference given on 5/11 while en route to Portugal...

"In terms of what we today can discover in this message [of Fatima], attacks against the Pope or the Church do not only come from outside; rather the sufferings of the Church come from within, from the sins that exist in the Church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies on the outside, but is born from the sin within the church, the Church therefore has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice. In one word we have to re-learn these essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That is how we respond, and we need to be realistic in expecting that evil will always attack, from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil and the Virgin Mary is for us the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history."

Source: Vatican Radio

[5/11]

More News Highlights

Recent news highlights...

* Tragic: Catholic Portugal is reportedly "set to legalize gay 'marriage'"

* 2012 not the "end of the world": Vatican astronomer notes that "People have been predicting the end of the world since the dawn of humanity" and also notes that "These beliefs spread because we are all tempted by the desire to possess secret knowledge of the future, thinking that it will make us more powerful than others. In reality, this is only a sign of bad science or bad religion." Instead, he gives two precautionary measures "to increase the possibility of a long and healthy life", namely "stop smoking and fasten your seatbelt" [Related: Jesus' Second Coming (Topical Scripture)]

* Heartbreaking: Planned Parenthood is turning a former bank building in Texas into the "largest abortion clinic in the U.S." The facility will include a surgical wing "equipped to provide late-term abortions"

* New study reveals that "children who had been physically disciplined when they were young, between the ages of 2 and 6, grew up to be happier and more successful, performed better at school as teenagers and were more likely to do volunteer work and to want to go to university, than those who had never been spanked." Related: User-Submitted Article on Spanking]

* Hold your cookies: Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran decries "ignorance of Islam", saying "I wonder if these persons [referring to Swiss persons who - with a "feeling of fear" - voted to ban construction of new Muslim minarets] know Muslims, if they have ever opened the Qur’an." Commentary: Isn't it shocking to hear a Cardinal suggesting persons subject themselves to the offensive - even blasphemous - material in this "holy book"? Doesn’t history speak clearly enough for him? Don't the publications which clearly expose the ...um... 'peaceful' parts of this "central religious text of Islam" speak clearly enough? Does the Cardinal also suggest persons drink poison to experience for themselves what it's like? Rather than advising people to read material that offends God, perhaps the good Cardinal should spend more time on the truly holy book of his own religion - the Holy Bible - perhaps starting with passages where followers of Christ are instructed to be on guard against those who distort truth and where we are told to flatly reject error in matters of religion.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference has joined secular efforts to outlaw seemingly astronomical interest rates on "payday loans". Missing from news accounts: The word "usury", mention of lenders' risk on such loans, and references to the voluntary nature of such agreements (regrettable though they be).

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