BXVI - Sage Advice

Sage advice from a survivor of National Socialism:

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 25, 2009 (Zenit.org).- There is a double danger when speaking of social issues, says Benedict XVI. The first is to focus too much on politics; the second is to be unrealistic.

The Pope said this Saturday at a luncheon held Saturday in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall with those who participated in the in the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

The three-week assembly, which gathered 33 cardinals, 79 archbishops and 156 bishops, considered the theme "The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace."

In addressing the synod participants, the Holy Father noted the two-fold danger of choosing the synodal theme, which "implies a strong political dimension."

The Pontiff noted "that reconciliation, justice and peace are not possible without a profound purification of the heart, without a renewal of thought, a 'metanoia' (conversion), without a newness that must come precisely from the encounter with God"..MORE>>