Pope makes appeal on the environment at midnight Mass By Ian Fisher c/o IHT

Pope makes appeal on the environment at midnight Mass
By Ian Fisher

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
ROME: Pope Benedict XVI reinforced the Vatican's growing concern with protecting the environment in the traditional midnight Christmas Mass on Tuesday, bemoaning an "ill-treated world" in a homily given to thousands of pilgrims here in the seat of the world's billion Roman Catholics.

On the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago, Benedict referred to one early father of the church, Gregory of Nyssa, a bishop in what is now Turkey. "What would he say if he could see the state of the world today, through the abuse of energy and its selfish and reckless exploitation?" the pope asked, according to the Vatican's English translation.

He expanded on the theme briefly by saying that an 11th-century theologian, Anselm of Canterbury, had spoken "in an almost prophetic way" as he "described a vision of what we witness today as a polluted world whose future is at risk."

In recent months, Benedict has spoken out increasingly about environmental concerns, and the Vatican has even purchased "carbon offsets," credits on the global market to compensate for carbon dioxide emissions, for the energy consumed in the world's smallest state, Vatican City.

In his third Christmas Mass since being elected pope in 2005, Benedict also inaugurated the Nativity scene on St. Peter's Square.

The pope devoted most of his homily to the theme of the difficulty Christ's earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, had finding lodging in Bethlehem as Mary neared giving birth.

"The time came for Mary to deliver," the pope said. "And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

"Those words touch our hearts every time we hear them," he continued.

Benedict compared that with what he suggested was a lack of room in the hearts of people today to hear the message of Christ's birth.

"In some ways, mankind is awaiting God, waiting for him to draw near," he said. "But when the moment comes, there is no room for him. Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such an urgent need for all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others — for his neighbor, for the poor, for God. And the richer men become, the more they fill up all the space by themselves."