Pope Benedict XVI on Canada’s so-called Catholic politicians:
Pope Benedict hit out Friday at Canada for allowing same sex marriage and abortion, saying they result from Catholic politicians ignoring the values of their religion.
‘In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children,’ the Pope told a group of bishops from Ontario.
Such laws, he said, are the result of ‘the exclusion of God from the public sphere.’
He lamented that Catholic politicians had yielded to ‘ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls.’
Benedict has made the defence of traditional family values a major goal of his papacy, speaking out often on the issue. During a trip to Spain in July, he challenged that country’s Socialist government for instituting liberal reforms such as gay marriage and fast-track divorce.
That’s some serious heat! I sincerely hope Pope Benedict XVI visits the specific role of Catholics in the public square in an encyclical. So many seem to be so confused, and in the name of the Second Vatican Council have done things entirely contrary to it’s spirit.
Is this a call to legislate one’s faith? Of course not. But it is a call to make that voice heard in defense of family and the defenseless — most notably when it comes to abortion and euthanasia.