Vatican lists "new sins," including pollution

[Mackin]

By Philip Pullella Posted Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:00am PDT

A faithful holds the cross during a mass at a Catholic church on the outskirts of Changzhi, Shanxi province December 23, 2007. The Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of 'new' sins such as causing environmental blight. (Stringer/Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

"(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said.

The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Girotti, in an interview headlined "New Forms of Social Sin," also listed "ecological" offences as modern evils.

In recent months, Pope Benedict has made several strong appeals for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race.

Under Benedict and his predecessor John Paul, the Vatican has become progressively "green."

It has installed photovoltaic cells on buildings to produce electricity and hosted a scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming and climate change, widely blamed on human use of fossil fuels.

Girotti, who is number two in the Vatican "Apostolic Penitentiary," which deals with matter of conscience, also listed drug trafficking and social and economic injustices as modern sins.

But Girotti also bemoaned that fewer and fewer Catholics go to confession at all.

He pointed to a study by Milan's Catholic University that showed that up to 60 percent of Catholic faithful in Italy stopped going to confession.

In the sacrament of Penance, Catholics confess their sins to a priest who absolves them in God's name.

But the same study by the Catholic University showed that 30 percent of Italian Catholics believed that there was no need for a priest to be God's intermediary and 20 percent felt uncomfortable talking about their sins to another person.

(Editing by Keith Weir)

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

[QuietTruth]

Thou shall not pollute the Earth.

LMAO

[Mackin]

Thou shall not pollute the Earth.

LMAO

yeah i figured the same thing too...


These Guys have a lot of other things that are dragging their name through the mud, i thin they should spend a lot more time on clearing their name in that regard...But ah Well..LMAO indeed!

[QuietTruth]

IF they wanna go changing thangs, they should at least let Priests marry/date/have interaction with women, for God's sake.

[Mackin]

IF they wanna go changing thangs, they should at least let Priests marry/date/have interaction with women, for God's sake.

So True!!!!!!!!

[Nat Turner-reincarnated]

"they liars and faggets like the VATICAN THRONE" --vinny paz

[Don Jacob]

IF they wanna go changing thangs, they should at least let Priests marry/date/have interaction with women, for God's sake.

yeah i agree with that. just because you want to serve the church doesn't mean you should have to give up sex. it should honestly be optional. because seriously when you think about it, a man who has children and a relationship with a woman can give great advice on life. it CHANGES you and grows you up ALOT. in the catholic church the priest is the head councillor and is giving out all this advice to people who have 6-16 children and shit.....that doesn't sit well with me as a parent. how is someone who doesn't have children, doesn't have sex, doesn't know what it's like to be in a relationship gonna tel me, how to raise my kids, tell me what's okay to stick my dick in, and how to have a good relationship with my wife when he doesn't really know from experience. of course the answer I'd probably get back is "oh he'd just be following what the bible tells you about that stuff".  I'd say good answer but that's not good enough. IMO god doesn't want us to just verbally regurgitate what's in the book with no feeling behind it. i think it'd be more effective if that church let married dudes with kids run it because i think you need to know the word of the bible as well as feel what it's saying.

[QuietTruth]

IF they wanna go changing thangs, they should at least let Priests marry/date/have interaction with women, for God's sake.

yeah i agree with that. just because you want to serve the church doesn't mean you should have to give up sex. it should honestly be optional. because seriously when you think about it, a man who has children and a relationship with a woman can give great advice on life. it CHANGES you and grows you up ALOT. in the catholic church the priest is the head councillor and is giving out all this advice to people who have 6-16 children and shit.....that doesn't sit well with me as a parent. how is someone who doesn't have children, doesn't have sex, doesn't know what it's like to be in a relationship gonna tel me, how to raise my kids, tell me what's okay to stick my dick in, and how to have a good relationship with my wife when he doesn't really know from experience. of course the answer I'd probably get back is "oh he'd just be following what the bible tells you about that stuff".  I'd say good answer but that's not good enough. IMO god doesn't want us to just verbally regurgitate what's in the book with no feeling behind it. i think it'd be more effective if that church let married dudes with kids run it because i think you need to know the word of the bible as well as feel what it's saying.

That's a good fuckin' point!

Like I can see the rule if it applied to like widowed old man. Ya know? Who has kids all grown up, maybe has lost a wife, ain't sexually active, all that. Becuz from what I understand, they are supposed to 'marry God', word? Give your life to him, lol? An old devoted dude would be perfect. I mean for the sake of the Catholic religion, change the rule. Look at the nuns? How many of them you see today? They want husbands. What you think is gon happen to Priests? I don't know.

That was a good ass point though.

[Mackin]

^^Still can't understand the reason behind Priest should not marry Law...

[QuietTruth]

^ Yeah, I don't know. My grandmother told me becuz it's like they are 'marrying God'. Sacrificing, I guess. Dudes is only human though.

[Mackin]

^ Yeah, I don't know. My grandmother told me becuz it's like they are 'marrying God'. Sacrificing, I guess. Dudes is only human though.

^Yeah I've also heard..that!!
But i believe that you can be married and if you choose to follow God's teaching it can work..after all what's the saying 'With God All things Are Possible'.......

[QuietTruth]

^ Exactly.

[Don Jacob]

i can see the metaphoric reasoning behind it. but again it's a rule by the CHURCH not the bible.

i can see the church saying "god gave woman as a gift to man, blahblhablah, so in sacrifice to god a priest should give that gift up to serve him faithfully"

whatever, i think it's more beneficial to the PRIEST (1st), the parishioners,  the name of the church, and little boys across the globe (lol sorry had to do it) if they let up on this rule.

[QuietTruth]

whatever, i think it's more beneficial to the PRIEST (1st), the parishioners,  the name of the church, and little boys across the globe (lol sorry had to do it) if they let up on this rule.

Amen, .

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Why would a man marry God?...Fuckin' homos.