This pope headline is not exactly accurate

The Beeb says Pope Benedict “criticizes the pursuit of wealth.”

Here’s what he actually said, at the beginning of the Synod of Bishops gathered in Rome. (The VIS report on this will be available online soon. This is from the early press release.)

In some brief opening remarks, Benedict XVI pointed out how “at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord speaks of two ways of building the house of one’s life: on sand or on rock. Those who build on sand do so only on visible and tangible things: on success, career and money”, he said.

“These seem to true reality, but one day they will pass away”, he added. “We see this now with the fall of the great banks. Money disappears, it becomes nothing. And thus all these things which seem to be real and upon which we can rely, are in fact of secondary importance. … Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, stable like heaven. Therefore we must change our concept of reality. A realist is one who recognises that the Word of God – this reality that appears so weak – is in fact the foundation of everything”.

And here are some of his comments on the global culture:

“Today, nations once rich in faith and vocations are losing their own identity, under the harmful and destructive influence of a certain modern culture. There are those that, having decided that ‘God is dead’, declare themselves ‘god’, believing themselves to be the only creator of their own fate, the absolute owners of the world. … But when man eliminates God from his horizon, when he declares God to be ‘dead’, is he truly happier? Does he truly become more free? … Is it not more likely – as demonstrated by news headlines every day – that the arbitrary rule of power, selfish interests, injustice and exploitation, and violence in all its forms, will extend their grip? Man’s final destination, in the end, is to find himself more alone and society more divided and confused”.

Which is why Benedict chose the theme of spreading the word of God better and more widely in the modern world, to people of all faiths and no faith.