The Pope's white robes scared a young boy who mistook him for a doctor when he
visited a children's hospital on Friday.
The child began crying when
78-year-old Pope Benedict approached his bed in the cardiology ward of the
Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) hospital near the Vatican.
'It's the white,' a
nurse explained to the Pope. 'He can't take anymore of these white coats.'
Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that
his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by
his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God,
saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of
heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power
until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment.
Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle
was fought with Michael the archangel.
Pope John Paul I, who died in 1978 after a reign of only 34 days, could be the next addition to the growing list of possible papal saints .
The beatification process for the Italian pontiff has moved swiftly ahead since its 2003 launch, the official in charge of the cause said in an interview marking the 27th anniversary of the pope's death .
Author M. Scott Peck, who wrote the best-seller 'The Road Less Traveled' and other novels, has died. He was 69.
Peck died Sunday at his home in Connecticut, longtime friend and Los Angeles publicist Michael Levine said. He had suffered from pancreatic and liver duct cancer.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts,
nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Gay priests say they are being scapegoated for crimes committed by pedophiles
and covered up by bishops who never faced any discipline. The interviews made
clear that they now had the strong sense of being persecuted by their own
church.
'I feel like a Jew in Berlin in the 1930's,' said a 48-year-old
gay priest who has spent 18 years in a religious order. He said he was
considering donning a pink triangle - the symbol used by the Nazis - and getting
heterosexual priests and members of the laity to wear the triangles as a
protest.
The 25 candidates studying to become priests at Aquinas Institute of Theology
were described as 'anxious' but not worried Monday as a Vatican team began
evaluating how they are prepared intellectually, spiritually and sexually for
priesthood.
Priests are not sexless.
Priestly celibacy is a free choice to forgo sex and marriage for the sake of ministry. Like marriage, celibacy can be difficult, even burdensome. Those of us who have chosen it do so because we believe it is the best way for us to achieve our life's purpose. The goal is not to suppress sexuality but to shape it into a truly creative force in the service of others. Priests are loving, caring, feeling and, yes, even desiring, human persons. We wouldn't want it any other way.
Homosexuality and pedophilia are not the same.
Homosexuality involves attraction to adult persons of the same sex and is not in itself sinful or sick. There is no evidence that a homosexual orientation, in and of itself, prevents a seminarian from achieving the same holiness and ministerial effectiveness as a seminarian with a heterosexual orientation.
On the other hand, a pedophile has no interest in adult sexual relationships and is attracted only to children.
Most victims of pedophilia are girls, and most molesters are male family members. Pedophilia is a serious pathology that is resistant to therapy. It is found in every social class, within every racial and ethnic group and in every profession. There is no evidence that pedophilia is more prevalent among priests than in society at large.
