Pope
Francis attacks consumerist society in midnight mass at Vatican
Pontiff
tells Catholic faithful to reject hedonism but makes no mention of
refugee crisis in homily at St Peter’s Basilica
Harriet Sherwood
Religion correspondent
Pope Francis
returned to one of his favoured themes in his homily at midnight mass
on Christmas Eve at the Vatican, castigating a hedonistic and
consumerist society and a culture of indifference.
Meanwhile, one of
his senior cardinals, Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster
and the leader of the Catholic church in England, focused his
Christmas Eve message on “gratuitous violence” in the home and
the suffering of persecuted Christians around the world.
Neither Catholic
leader mentioned the continuing refugee crisis, a surprising omission
at the end of a year in which the plight of those fleeing conflict,
persecution and hardship has dominated international headlines. In
September, Francis called on every religious community across Europe
to offer sanctuary to refugee families.
At midnight mass,
the pope urged his followers to pursue a life of modesty, saying:
“The way of authentic liberation and perennial redemption is open
to every man and woman who is simple of heart”.
He added: “In a
society so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and
extravagance, appearances and narcissism, [Jesus] calls us to act
soberly, in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced,
consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential … Amid a
culture of indifference which not infrequently turns ruthless, our
style of life should instead be devout, filled with empathy,
compassion and mercy, drawn daily from the wellspring of prayer.”
Francis’s mass in
St Peter’s Basilica comes shortly after the start of his “year of
mercy”, during which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected
to pass through a huge bronze “holy door” and attend special
masses and papal audiences. Catholic churches around the world have
opened their own holy doors to mark the special year.
At Westminster
Cathedral in London, Nichols focused a key part of his homily on the
domestic arena. One of the lessons of the nativity was that “in the
crib there is absolutely no place for gratuitous violence. In the
presence of a child we should always watch our tongues and behaviour,
for childhood lessons of anger and violence are never forgotten.”
The cardinal drew a
link between domestic violence and violence committed in the name of
religion. “Let us be resolved to lay aside our own tendencies to
angry violence so that we may condemn, with integrity, those who
perpetrate such violence and claim for it the name of God.”
He offered prayers
for the “victims of such violence, in many parts of the world. We
pray especially for our Christian brothers and sisters who suffer
grievously for their faith in Jesus as their Lord, losing life and
belongings, suffering torture and unspeakable cruelty for his sake.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário