This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/24/pope-francis-uses-christmas-homily-to-decry-modern-consumerism
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Pope uses Christmas homily to decry modern consumerism | Pope uses Christmas homily to decry modern consumerism |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Pope Francis has attacked the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism, using his Christmas Eve homily to urge people to make “sharing and giving” more a part of their lives. | |
| “Mankind became greedy and voracious,” the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics said in an address to thousands of followers in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. | |
| “In our day, for many people, life’s meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. | “In our day, for many people, life’s meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. |
| “An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive.” | “An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive.” |
| The birth of Christ pointed to a new way to live “not by devouring and hoarding, but by sharing and giving”, he said. We “must not lose our footing or slide into worldliness and consumerism”, he said. | |
| People should ask themselves: “Do I really need all these material objects and complicated recipes for living? Can I manage without all these unnecessary extras and live a life of greater simplicity?” | People should ask themselves: “Do I really need all these material objects and complicated recipes for living? Can I manage without all these unnecessary extras and live a life of greater simplicity?” |
| Pope Francis, who turned 82 earlier this month, will deliver his sixth Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day to pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square. | Pope Francis, who turned 82 earlier this month, will deliver his sixth Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day to pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square. |
| As Francis presided over celebrations in Rome, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was in Iraq to celebrate Christmas with the Chaldean Catholic community, a clear sign of the pope’s solidarity. | |
| Catholics are among the religious minorities devastated by Islamic State-inspired violence that has driven tens of thousands from their homes in Iraq. | Catholics are among the religious minorities devastated by Islamic State-inspired violence that has driven tens of thousands from their homes in Iraq. |
| Parolin met the Iraqi prime minister, Adel AbdulMahdi, on Monday in Baghdad. | |
| The Vatican has for years expressed concern about the exodus of Christians from communities that have existed since the time of Jesus. | The Vatican has for years expressed concern about the exodus of Christians from communities that have existed since the time of Jesus. |
| This year, Francis joined Orthodox leaders to decry what he called the “murderous indifference” of world powers to violence and suffering in the Middle East. | This year, Francis joined Orthodox leaders to decry what he called the “murderous indifference” of world powers to violence and suffering in the Middle East. |
| The archbishop of Canterbury will also highlight the plight of persecuted Christians, especially in the Middle East and Nigeria, in his Christmas Day sermon. | |
| Justin Welby will also call for the language of love to replace the vocabulary of hate, tribalism and rivalry. | |
| At a Eucharist service at Canterbury cathedral, Welby will say that God’s language of love “requires us to forget other languages of hatred, tribalism, rivalry, materialism, pride, greed, and so many more”. | |
| He will add: “It must be spoken by us on behalf of the persecuted, those farmers in the middle belt of Nigeria who speak it in protest and lament as they suffer. It must be spoken by us on behalf of the Christian communities of the Middle East and around the world. | |
| “And God speaks its words for the poor and suffering and oppressed in every place at every time.” | |
| Welby has spoken of the need to “calm down the hatreds” over Brexit, and for reconciliation and restraint, in recent weeks. | |
| In one interview, he said it could take 10 years for the fractures to heal after the 2016 referendum “open[ed] so much bitterness”. | |
| He repeated his view that, although he voted remain, the outcome of the referendum must be respected. Reconciliation takes time, he told ITV. | |
| “It involves regret and repentance, it involves acknowledging where things went wrong, where you went wrong, where the other went wrong, it involves truth seeking, it is a process that is cautiously piled layer upon layer upon layer until you’ve built this bridge across the gap.” | |
| When pressed on how long the process would take he said: “It depends on how people pursue it but ten [years] would be good, to get to a point where we’ve put it behind us and it was no more than a painful memory.” | |
| Introducing a Christmas morning service broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Welby said people may be feeling “unsettled” and wondering what the next 12 months would bring. | |
| Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster and the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, told a congregation at midnight mass that “we are in difficult times, times of uncertainty and an absence of consensus”. | |
| Churches were providing help on food poverty and homelessness, he added, but more volunteers were needed. | |
| “If, in the coming year, hardship increases, then we are ready to help in every way we can,” Nichols said. | |
| Pope Francis | Pope Francis |
| Catholicism | Catholicism |
| Christianity | Christianity |
| Justin Welby | |
| Religion | Religion |
| The papacy | The papacy |
| Vatican | Vatican |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |