Pope warns against tech advances

ope Benedict XVI, standing on the spot where he first appeared as the newly-elected pontiff last spring, warned in his first Christmas Day message against technological advances made in the absence of religious belief.

"Today we can marshal vast material resources," he said, addressing thousands of people in a rainy St. Peter's Square. "But the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart. "Yet without the light of Christ, the light of reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and the world."

In his homily at midnight mass inside St. Peter's Basilica earlier, Benedict made a reference to the Church's ban on abortion, saying that God's love shines on each child, "even on those still unborn."

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051226/REPOSITORY/512260347/1013/NEWS03

high tech popemobile.

:cry:

others are not welcome.

Suppose as the former head of the church's office of the inquisition he notes that the light of Christ casts very dark shadows, too?

:shrug:

If God had meant a woman to bear children…

how about the light of honesty? he can give back all the stuff his church has stolen in the past
2000 years.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

He also castigated the media for reporting the incidents.
Just for bad measure, he then used the whole thing as an
excuse to purge gays from seminaries.

For the crimes committed against my family for being Irish Catholics?

I love how you conflate Catholicism with child molestation.

so you can give us more!!

The Schtick has worked for centuries on the brainwashed masses (and deeply conflicted liberals.)

excommunicated, burned, or whatever to those who said the sun did not circle the earth?

how long has it been since McCarthyism persecuted urban working-class Catholics, my family among them?

He must have a really loud voice!

Maybe he borrowed George's cheerleading megaphone? :shrug:

Will torture be making a come back? Oh, wait, Bush has that covered.

So the pope wants us to stop using our brains? Replace logic with blind faith? figures.

You may realize he's got a point. Other have said it. Bill motherfucking Joy (Sun co-founder) has been warning of it for five years.


Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species. ....

more



http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

When computers are at the point where they double their capacity to process info every 24 hours...which probably will occur sometime before 2020, it will actually free humans to concentrate on developing our spiritual selves at a faster rate..since we will no longer need to spend all of our time and energy trying to figure out how to do things...like cure illness, establish peace in the world, end poverty and hunger, etc. because the computer "mind" will be able to do that for us. The pope is wrong on this one.

If you're not employed and without income?

of the NSA serving a soulless and heartless administration. His speech did not seem anti-technology but rather a warning about becoming borg.

:grr:

freedoms, as chimp would say. Is there a lot of difference there?

Satan!

:sarcasm:

"So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men"

I think the Pope should re-think the conditions and face reality instead of trying to be so omniscient.

Time for the Church to disband, and give back all the stolen loot.

High time for the church to disband and stop giving working class kids an education equal to that of the middle class snobs who despise them and who pretend that their Nazi like and genocidal bigotry does not exist. You tell it to my family that it does not exist.

Is there such a thing as an educated priest anymore? I doubt it! Once upon a time, the Church had the scholars for a multiplicity of reasons:

The monasteries had been the collectors and preservers of all written wisdom.

Only rich people could afford religion, and have the free time and skill to read and think and study, while everyone else worked like dogs to grow enough food to stay alive and tithe to the Church.

Information did not percolate through the populations, so the Church didn't feel its hegemony threatened.


Now the Church is too busy fighting off all comers, and seeing that an educated population is really much happier, healthier, and more productive without it, the Church is a dead dinosaur for dead-ended life.

So instead of joining the 21st Century, Pope Benedict would like us all to retreat with him to the 12th Century, when nobody knew any better. No, Thanks!

Ahh... Those were the days..."

"Today we can marshal vast material resources"

Translation: People can get things with out the aid of the church that scares us.

"But the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements,"

Translation: If people keep getting smarter we will all be soon be out of a ez ride on the backs of millions.

"ending up in a spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart."

Translation: Threaten followers to make them believe they will become less human.

"Yet without the light of Christ, the light of reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and the world."

Translation: Reinforce Antiquated teachings assuring the followers that they have all the answers that make the world spin.

stolen treasures! Use the money to feed, house and clothe the poor; otherwise, STFU!

"Sandals are Satanic!" - Pope St. Eleutherius

Didn't Jesus wear sandals? Doesn't that make them by default Satan-free?

Maybe he meant to say Scandals are Satanic?

I meant "High-top sandals." So did Pope St. Eleutherius.

"(The Pope) presided at the two-hour midnight mass without signs of fatigue, and later braved the foul weather to speak to the assembled crowd from a balcony facing the square."

Billions of us can do our jobs for three or four times that without signs of fatigue at any time of day or night under any conditions for year after year. But that ain't news is it? But some fucking parasite can get up off his dead ass and literally pontificate about shit he clearly knows nothing, and THAT is a fucking MEDIA EVENT!! FUCK!

Another slef-serving, self-inflated sense of importance.

Does the moron really think 1/3 to 1/2 of the world's peoples give a rat'z ass what the Pope thinks? No, we don't.

And another thing: I may be secular, but I am a good person, and I know 98% of the secular people I know are also good people. Just because we don't believe in an intagible entity does not make us without morals. And that's what many of my religious friends think--that those of us without afterwordly goals can't have the same morals as those who do believe in an almighty entity. It's beyond their reasoning that a person can be good without the threat of hell compelling them to behave properly. For those of us who ARE secular, morals come without all the extra baggage that many of those with religious props carry around with them. We're "good" because we're decent people without the need to make a bigger deal out of our motives.

As someone already pointed out, there are more people on earth who are merely trying to survive without attaching any conditions to their life, than there are those to whom the pope is preaching. Instead of making up warnings about a godless future society (the only reason it bothers him and others like him is because they will lose money in their coffers!), he should instead be trying to get more rich repukes to donate a little more time and money to those less fortunate than themselves. But then, we're talking about the Vatican, which has more gold and other treasures than Fort Knox, and which plainly prefers to hang on to it all than spread it out among the poorer Catholic countries.

Obstruction of justice for ordering Bishops to hide sex abuse evidence.

It's well documented, so what's the problem?

The Pope loosing edge?

"He's a Legend in HIS own mind!" ala Clint Eastwood, aka Dirty Harry.

Which he made AFTER he had given a different Homily for Midnight Mass (Included below). Thus he had a LONG day, giving two masses (and one lasting four Hours, i.e. the Midnight Mass) and then the Mass where he did his "Urbi et Orbi" Homily (So named for afterward he gives a Blessing to the the City of Rome and the World).

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 25, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Benedict XVI's Christmas message delivered at midday before he imparted the blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city of Rome and the world).

* * *

"I bring you good news of a great joy … for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).

Last night we heard once more the Angel's message to the shepherds, and we experienced anew the atmosphere of that holy night, Bethlehem Night, when the Son of God became man, was born in a lowly stable and dwelt among us. On this solemn day, the Angel's proclamation rings out once again, inviting us, the men and women of the third millennium, to welcome the Savior. May the people of today's world not hesitate to let him enter their homes, their cities, their nations, everywhere on earth!

In the millennium just past, and especially in the last centuries, immense progress was made in the areas of technology and science. Today we can dispose of vast material resources. But the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart. That is why it is so important for us to open our minds and hearts to the Birth of Christ, this event of salvation which can give new hope to the life of each human being.

Wake up, O man! For your sake God became man" (St. Augustine, "Sermo," 185). Wake up, O men and women of the third millennium! At Christmas, the Almighty becomes a child and asks for our help and protection. His way of showing that he is God challenges our way of being human. By knocking at our door, he challenges us and our freedom; he calls us to examine how we understand and live our lives.

The modern age is often seen as an awakening of reason from its slumbers, humanity's enlightenment after an age of darkness. Yet without the light of Christ, the light of reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and the world. For this reason, the words of the Christmas Gospel: "the true Light that enlightens every man was coming into this world" (John 1: 9) resound now more than ever as a proclamation of salvation. "It is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear" ("Gaudium et Spes," No. 22). The Church does not tire of repeating this message of hope reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which concluded 40 years ago.

Men and women of today, humanity come of age yet often still so frail in mind and will, let the Child of Bethlehem take you by the hand! Do not fear; put your trust in him! The life-giving power of his light is an incentive for building a new world order based on just ethical and economic relationships. May his love guide every people on earth and strengthen their common consciousness of being a "family" called to foster relationships of trust and mutual support. A united humanity will be able to confront the many troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental destruction which threatens the future of our planet.

May the God who became man out of love for humanity strengthen all those in Africa who work for peace, integral development and the prevention of fratricidal conflicts, for the consolidation of the present, still fragile political transitions, and the protection of the most elementary rights of those experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and in other regions of central Africa. May he lead the peoples of Latin America to live in peace and harmony. May he grant courage to people of good will in the Holy Land, in Iraq, in Lebanon, where signs of hope, which are not lacking, need to be confirmed by actions inspired by fairness and wisdom; may he favor the process of dialogue on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere in the countries of Asia, so that, by the settlement of dangerous disputes, consistent and peaceful conclusions can be reached in a spirit of friendship, conclusions which their peoples expectantly await.

At Christmas we contemplate God made man, divine glory hidden beneath the poverty of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Creator of the Universe reduced to the helplessness of an infant. Once we accept this paradox, we discover the Truth that sets us free and the Love that transforms our lives. On Bethlehem Night, the Redeemer becomes one of us, our companion along the precarious paths of history. Let us take the hand which he stretches out to us: It is a hand which seeks to take nothing from us, but only to give.

With the shepherds let us enter the stable of Bethlehem beneath the loving gaze of Mary, the silent witness of his miraculous birth. May she help us to experience the happiness of Christmas, may she teach us how to treasure in our hearts the mystery of God who for our sake became man; and may she help us to bear witness in our world to his truth, his love and his peace.

Original text in Italian; translation issued by the Holy See

Midnight Mass Homily

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 25, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI delivered at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, held in St. Peter's Basilica.

* * *

"The Lord said to me: You are my son; this day I have begotten you." With these words of the second Psalm, the Church begins the Vigil Mass of Christmas, at which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Redeemer in a stable in Bethlehem. This psalm was once a part of the coronation rite of the kings of Judah. The people of Israel, in virtue of its election, considered itself in a special way a son of God, adopted by God. Just as the king was the personification of the people, his enthronement was experienced as a solemn act of adoption by God, whereby the king was in some way taken up into the very mystery of God. Bethlehem Night, these words, which were really more an expression of hope than a present reality, took on new and unexpected meaning. The Child lying in the manger is truly God's Son. God is not eternal solitude but rather a circle of love and mutual self-giving. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

But there is more: In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God himself became man. To him the Father says: "You are my son." God's everlasting "today" has come down into the fleeting today of the world and lifted our momentary today into God's eternal today. God is so great that he can become small. God is so powerful that he can make himself vulnerable and come to us as a defenseless child, so that we can love him. God is so good that he can give up his divine splendor and come down to a stable, so that we might find him, so that his goodness might touch us, give itself to us and continue to work through us. This is Christmas: "You are my son, this day I have begotten you."

God has become one of us, so that we can be with him and become like him. As a sign, he chose the Child lying in the manger: This is how God is. This is how we come to know him. And on every child shines something of the splendor of that "today," of that closeness of God which we ought to love and to which we must yield -- it shines on every child, even on those still unborn.

Let us listen to a second phrase from the liturgy of this holy night, one taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: "Upon the people who walked in darkness a great light has shone" (Isaiah 9:1). The word "light" pervades the entire liturgy of tonight's Mass. It is found again in the passage drawn from St. Paul's letter to Titus: "The grace of God has appeared" (2:11). The expression "has appeared," in the original Greek says the same thing that was expressed in Hebrew by the words "a light has shone": this "apparition" -- this "epiphany" -- is the breaking of God's light upon a world full of darkness and unsolved problems. The Gospel then relates that the glory of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and "shone around them" (Luke 2: 9). Wherever God's glory appears, light spreads throughout the world. St. John tells us that "God is light and in him is no darkness" (1 John 1:5 ). The light is a source of life.

But first, light means knowledge; it means truth, as contrasted with the darkness of falsehood and ignorance. Light gives us life, it shows us the way. But light, as a source of heat, also means love. Where there is love, light shines forth in the world; where there is hatred, the world remains in darkness. In the stable of Bethlehem there appeared the great light which the world awaits. In that Child lying in the stable, God has shown his glory -- the glory of love, which gives itself away, stripping itself of all grandeur in order to guide us along the way of love. The light of Bethlehem has never been extinguished. In every age it has touched men and women, "it has shone around them."

Wherever people put their faith in that Child, charity also sprang up -- charity toward others, loving concern for the weak and the suffering, the grace of forgiveness. From Bethlehem a stream of light, love and truth spreads through the centuries. If we look to the saints -- from Paul and Augustine to Francis and Dominic, from Francis Xavier and Teresa of Avila to Mother Teresa of Calcutta -- we see this flood of goodness, this path of light kindled ever anew by the mystery of Bethlehem, by that God who became a Child. In that Child, God countered the violence of this world with his own goodness. He calls us to follow that Child.

Along with the Christmas tree, our Austrian friends have also brought us a small flame lit in Bethlehem, as if to say that the true mystery of Christmas is the inner brightness radiating from this Child. May that inner brightness spread to us, and kindle in our hearts the flame of God's goodness; may all of us, by our love, bring light to the world! Let us keep this light-giving flame from being extinguished by the cold winds of our time! Let us guard it faithfully and give it to others! On this night, when we look toward Bethlehem, let us pray in a special way for the birthplace of our Redeemer and for the men and women who live and suffer there. We wish to pray for peace in the Holy Land: Look, O Lord, upon this corner of the earth, your homeland, which is so very dear to you! Let your light shine upon it! Let it know peace!

The word "peace" brings us to a third key to the liturgy of this holy night. The Child foretold by Isaiah is called "Prince of Peace." His kingdom is said to be one "of endless peace." The shepherds in the Gospel hear the glad tidings: "Glory to God in the highest" and "on earth, peace ...." At one time we used to say: "to men of good will." Nowadays we say "to those whom God loves." What does this change mean? Is good will no longer important? We would do better to ask: Who are those whom God loves, and why does he love them? Does God have favorites? Does he love only certain people, while abandoning the others to themselves?

The Gospel answers these questions by pointing to some particular people whom God loves. There are individuals, like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon and Anna. But there are also two groups of people: the shepherds and the wise men from the East, the "Magi." Tonight let us look at the shepherds. What kind of people were they? In the world of their time, shepherds were looked down upon; they were considered untrustworthy and not admitted as witnesses in court. But really, who were they? To be sure, they were not great saints, if by that word we mean people of heroic virtue. They were simple souls. The Gospel sheds light on one feature which later on, in the words of Jesus, would take on particular importance: They were people who were watchful. This was chiefly true in a superficial way: They kept watch over their flocks by night. But it was also true in a deeper way: They were ready to receive God's word. Their life was not closed in on itself; their hearts were open. In some way, deep down, they were waiting for him.

Their watchfulness was a kind of readiness -- a readiness to listen and to set out. They were waiting for a light which would show them the way. That is what is important for God. He loves everyone, because everyone is his creature. But some persons have closed their hearts; there is no door by which his love can enter. They think that they do not need God, nor do they want him. Other persons, who, from a moral standpoint, are perhaps no less wretched and sinful, at least experience a certain remorse. They are waiting for God. They realize that they need his goodness, even if they have no clear idea of what this means. Into their expectant hearts God's light can enter, and with it, his peace. God seeks persons who can be vessels and heralds of his peace. Let us pray that he will not find our hearts closed. Let us strive to be active heralds of his peace -- in the world of today.

Among Christians, the word "peace" has taken on a very particular meaning: It has become a name for the Eucharist. There Christ's peace is present. In all the places where the Eucharist is celebrated, a great network of peace spreads through the world. The communities gathered around the Eucharist make up a kingdom of peace as wide as the world itself. When we celebrate the Eucharist we find ourselves in Bethlehem, in the "house of bread." Christ gives himself to us and, in doing so, gives us his peace. He gives it to us so that we can carry the light of peace within and give it to others. He gives it to us so that we can become peacemakers and builders of peace in the world. And so we pray: Lord, fulfill your promise! Where there is conflict, give birth to peace! Where there is hatred, make love spring up! Where darkness prevails, let light shine! Make us heralds of your peace! Amen.

Original text: Italian; translation issued by the Holy See

http://www.zenit.org/english/

probably no script!

managed their crimes without high tech.

an instrument of Satan...don't think, we will tell you what to do." -The Catholic Church

As a vaguely irreligious individual (and a technophile to an extent that a lot of people on DU would be put off by), I think there's more of a point to this than a lot of people seem willing to accept. While Benedict does strike me as somewhat Palpatinian in ways other than just his looks (le sigh, how I do miss JP2), he did say something worth thinking about there.

Of course he's going to spin it in terms of Christianity as a prerequisite for responsible use of science and technology. That's to be expected; if Islam had an equivalent position he'd be talking about Islam as a prerequisite for responsible (etc)., and ditto for any other even moderately evangelical religion out there. Despite the atheist cascade this post caused, I don't think there's as big a gap on this issue as people probably think.

A lot of religious folks, and the pontiffs have tended to be in on this, use terms like "the light of Christ" in the same way more secular people would say "humanity" or "common decency." I think both groups want the same basic thing here - that people designing and applying these new technologies don't chase knowledge purely for its own sake, but rather out of an actual desire to better things. Being in it for power or profit is one thing and common/annoying enough these days. People have a right, or even a responsibility, to worry about that, what with all the Monsantos out there busily blighting the planet.

I imagine what's being called for here is as much a Christian approach to science and technology (whether that's a contradiction in terms is an exercise to the reader) as it is a humane and responsible approach. Coming at things with an eye to the risks and costs of them, as well as how to use them in a way to help the world - genuinely help, in a way beyond simple consumer goods - is something entirely different, and I think that's something honest believers of most religions would be able to respect. There's a reason every major religion has an ethic of reciprocity.

But yeah, I suppose I'm just using a lot of words to say that the basic meaning of what he's trying to say there matters at least as much as the specific way he says it. Condemning something because a certain person says it's all well and good, but it wouldn't take much to realize the guy has something worth paying notice to there. I'll fault Benedict for a lot of things, but I can't for this one.

and don't you forget it!

Remember, Catholics: if you don't agree with this, you are subject to excommunication; Papal infallibility is one of the cornerstones of the faith.

Technology isn't always a fix- it's a tool to be used. Like a hammer- it can build a barn- or crush someone's skull.

For example, new technology helped increase fish catches worldwide to the point where fisheries around the world are on the verge of collapse. Fish- a food that used to feed poor people around the world- and one of natures greatest low entropy energy capturers, is now scarce enough that it prices many out of the market. Species have also been poisoned by methyl mercury- so no one can (or should) eat very much anyway.

No, the Pope is right- technology without an ethic- without (as I would put it) a higher purpose or- as he might put it, spirituality- reverence- is a dangerous and often counterproductive thing.

Ethics certainly should guide us in technology. After all, technology is only as good as what it's used for. Technology has brought us amazing things, but destructive things as well.

The problem with the Pope's message is that he (as well as most on the religious right) are stifling research on technology that poses great hope for humans (like stem cells) while he mentions other things (like arms proliferation) as secondary concerns.

The Pope is disingenuous and is arguing against technology only to suit his own RW ideaology. That's why most of us here don't trust him in any way.

While we're all still debating the ethics of what's allowable, researchers are forging ahead to see what they're capable of.

My biggest trepidation is what's going to happen when the corporations step in - and you KNOW they will - and start looking for patents.

Should human cloning ever become a feasible reality, once someone gets awarded a patent, I would not be at all surprised to see a movement to outlaw sex.

Technology is great, but it is going so fast that our laws and our ethics haven't had time to catch up. That is dangerous. There are so many areas where this is true, but the first that comes to mind is all the new technology law enforcement has. They can just fly over in a helicopter or whatever and see inside our homes, and its not subject to current privacy law because they didn't actually enter the house? Corporations can compile and archive vast amounts of personal data on everyone? On and on...

</Middle Ages>

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With the Spanish Inquisition, Wily Jesuits & the Opus Dei--nobody knows who they are, but the sure sound weird!

Remember when the pretty blond teacher was charged with fucking her 14 year old student? Remember how many DU'ers said she'd committed no crime & that the kid's mother was right to prevent his testimony? Many of the errant priests molested kids of that age or older. I agree with the concepts of "age of consent" & "statutory rape." If the parents were too embarrassed to go to the secular authorities, the Church was wrong in not doing so. But why do so many DU'ers believe those legal concepts should be applied sporadically? Do they think that homosexual relationships are inherently evil?

Has anyone read the rest of the speech?

Speaking in Italian, Benedict prayed for "courage to people of good will in the Holy Land, in Iraq, in Lebanon, where signs of hope, which are not lacking, need to be confirmed by actions inspired by fairness and wisdom."

He said Darfur, the region of Sudan filled with suffering refugees, along with other parts of Africa, need protection of their "most elementary rights" and appealed for resolution of "dangerous disputes" in Asia and on the Korean peninsula.

"A united humanity will be able to confront the troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental destruction which threatens the future of our planet,"Benedict said.

Probably not...

And I no longer pay any attention to it.

The Church is far more complex and nuanced than many people on this board understand. As an institituion, is has done great things; and it has done horrible things.

Some appear incapable of anything more than a one-dimensional view.

That back in the 'dark ages', it was THE Christian church...that means that the protestant bigots have roots in those same problems.

Don't forget how much the KKK and other far right groups and hate groups despise the 'socialistic' and 'Jew-like' Catholics. As someone who is currently being stalked by white supremacists, I don't find the hate on this thread without consequence.

and I believe that it will continue to do so.

The Church has also made horrible mistakes, and it will probably also continue to do so (the recent witch hunt against gay priests being exhibit 1).

To deny either of those facts is to exhibit close mindedness.

Why are white supremacists stalking you?

As an aside (and most certainly NOT to urge violence), I have long been an ardent opponent of guns. My views are now in the process of changing precisely because of those types of wingnuts and because of an increasingly totalitarean government. I still don't own guns and have no plans to do so. But I can see the argument now.

Not to mention the part about hiding all those pedophile priests in the VATICAN!

I agree that technology's increases should be at least matched by our advances in ethics and reasoning..unfortunately that isn't the way its worked for the past 100 years or so.

Nuclear power = Nuclear weapons
Mass Production = Arms increases

I think the Pope was speaking from his view point in life, that of religion obviously, but anyone could say something similar and not be ridiculed half as bad. I think ol Albert Einstein said it best when he said something to the effect of:

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

I don't see people hating on Einstein here.

is just around the corner.

Like the rest of us on the Right do.

Well, I'm glad to say I'm not afraid of technology.

The Right Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
(the A stands for Awesome)

earth that the sun revolves around now!

I suggest the former Nazi Youth member should loosen his skirt - the circulation to his brain is ebbing again.

And you KNOW we can't have all those busybody SCIENTISTS dredging up PROVEN FACTS that demolish their pet fairy tales now, can we!!

for you to be considered a voice of God. First off, you must love who you really are, then you might be able to speak to the people about "love".

of course.

Can I say this...yes I will...

I would love to bitch slap this Pope.

Can't help it.

I ignored him too.