Politics
Friday November 19, 2004
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Top Vatican Cardinal Says It's Time to Fight for Christian Freedom
VATICAN CITY, November 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an interview published today in the Italian newspaper "La Reppublica" and re-distributed world-wide via the Vatican Information Service, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issues a serious warning to Christians to defend against, "an aggressive secular ideology."
The Cardinal recalled, "In Sweden, a Protestant pastor who had preached about homosexuality, based on a line from Scriptures, went to jail for one month." He noted that the state should "not impose religion," but "allows these religions to be factors in building up society". However some states are now giving way to "an ideology which is imposed through politics and which does not give public space to the Catholic or Christian vision."
Urging Christians to fight the dangerous trend, he said: "In this sense, a struggle exists and we must defend religious freedom against the imposition of an ideology which is presented as if it were the only voice of rationality, when it is only the expression of a 'certain' rationalism."
Cardinal Ratzinger recognized in the advent of 'the pill', the seed for the warping of human sexuality and thus the eventual societal acceptance of homosexuality. "It is true that the pill has given rise to an anthropological revolution of great dimensions. It has . . . changed the vision of sexuality, the human being and the body itself. Sexuality has been separated from fecundity and in this way it has profoundly changed the concept of the human life. The sexual act has lost its purpose and finality which before was clear and specific, so that all forms of sexuality have become equivalent. Above all, from this revolution comes the equalization between homosexuality and heterosexuality."
Moreover, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith explained why the Catholic Church opposes not only homosexual 'marriage' but any kind of legal recognition of homosexual spouses. Speaking of recognition of spousal agreements between homosexuals, the Cardinal said, "But to institutionalize an agreement of this type - whether the lawmaker wants it or not - would necessarily appear in public opinion like another type of marriage that would inevitably assume a relative value." Concluding the point, Cardinal Ratzinger said, "Let us not forget that with these choices, to which Europe tends today - shall we say - in decline, we make a break from all the great cultures of humanity that have always recognized the very meaning of sexuality: that is, that men and the women were created to be jointly the guarantee of the future of the humanity. Not only a physical guarantee but also a moral one."
jhw
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Human Rights Commission Drops Complaint Against Catholic Magazine
- Canada's Catholic Bishops United in Opposition to Order of Canada Being Awarded to Morgentaler
- Highlights from Canada's Debate on the Morgentaler Order of Canada Fiasco
- Golden Arches Awash in Rainbow Colors: Family Group Boycotts McDonalds for Support for Homosexual Agenda
- Bishops Investigate Report: 39 Abortions, 9684 Sterilizations Performed in Texas Catholic Hospitals
- President Bush and Senator McCain Address National Right to Life Conference
- Formal Request Filed to Terminate Morgentaler's Appointment to the Order of Canada
- UK Catholic, Muslim Doctors May be Forced to Refer for Abortion
- UK Contraception and Abortion Promoters calling for Sex Ed for Four Year-Olds
- LAPD Sued for Alleged Discrimination against Officer's Religious Beliefs
- Foremost Expert on Contraception Says the Pill is Not Working - It's "Outdated"
- Letters to the Editor for Friday, July 4
- Morgentaler Order of Canada Protest Set for July 9 in Ottawa
- LifeSiteNews Now on Facebook - Join Our Group, Spread the Word
Most Read this Week
- Cover of Maclean's Magazine Notes Children as Young as 8 View Online Porn Regularly
- Archbishop Calls All Catholics to Demand National Award to Abortion Doc be Revoked
- Pro-Life Groups Horrified by Morgentaler's Appointment to the Order of Canada
- Interview with World's Leading Proponent of Natural Family Planning on the Dangers of Contraception
- Pro-Life Group Appalled that Abortionist Morgentaler Would Even be Considered for Order of Canada
- Online Polls Ask Whether Morgentaler Should Have Been Awarded Order of Canada
- Interview – Philadelphia Cardinal Rigali: The Church Will Never Justify Homosexual Conduct
- Confirmed: Advisory Council Has Voted to Award Order of Canada to Abortionist Henry Morgentaler
- New Ad Takes Obama to Task for His Abortion Record
- Numerous MPs Condemn Morgentaler Order of Canada Decision
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any Internet re-publishing of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews that have come from other news sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.