Pope lauds technology but warns of evil uses
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POPE Benedict XVI, leading a huge crowd at Palm Sunday outdoor Mass, lauded man's technological accomplishments but lamented that his increasing abilities can also be used for evil.
Waving palm fronds and olive branches - symbols of peace - pilgrims, tourists and Romans packed St Peter's Square yesterday on a sunny, breezy day for the start of Holy Week ceremonies. When the ceremony began, the square was nearly full, but by its end, a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands spilled over into the broad boulevard which leads to the Tiber.
Palm Sunday's liturgy recalls Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and his homily talked about the triumphs of humanity that are also tempered by selfishness and evil.
"From the beginning, men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to be like God, to attain the heights of God by their own powers," the pope said. "All the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to gain wings," he added.
"Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth," the pope told the faithful.
"And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," dragging people "toward selfishness, falsehood and evil," the pope said.
Holy Week services include the traditional nighttime Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday.
Waving palm fronds and olive branches - symbols of peace - pilgrims, tourists and Romans packed St Peter's Square yesterday on a sunny, breezy day for the start of Holy Week ceremonies. When the ceremony began, the square was nearly full, but by its end, a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands spilled over into the broad boulevard which leads to the Tiber.
Palm Sunday's liturgy recalls Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and his homily talked about the triumphs of humanity that are also tempered by selfishness and evil.
"From the beginning, men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to be like God, to attain the heights of God by their own powers," the pope said. "All the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to gain wings," he added.
"Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth," the pope told the faithful.
"And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," dragging people "toward selfishness, falsehood and evil," the pope said.
Holy Week services include the traditional nighttime Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday.
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