Pope condemns new onslaught against the family

BY ED WEST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
condemned the "decadent narcissism" and "satanic mores" of modern society in last week's Good Friday meditations, led by Pope Benedict XVI.
The text of the Stations of the Cross, written by Archbishop Angelo Comastri and approved by the Pontiff, contained a blistering attack on western decadence and condemned the impending revolution in genetics as disastrous for human beings.
The text was followed by thousands of participants in the Rome Colosseum. "On the Cross of Christ we have seen today the suffering of abandoned and abused children, the threats against the family, the division of the world between the arrogance of the rich, and the poverty of so many," read the meditations.
But as well as protesting against world poverty, the meditations also rebuked the West for its lax morality.
At the Third Station of the Cross, where Christ fell the first time, the meditations continued: "Lord, we have lost our sense of sin! Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an apologia of evil, a senseless cult of satan, a mindless desire for transgression, dishonest and friv olous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness." At the Fourth Station, the followers prayed: "Lord Jesus, our affluence is making us less human, our entertainment has become a drug, a source of alienation, and our society's incessant, tedious message is an invitation to die of selfishness."
The meditations also called for "society to be cleansed of filth" — an echo of Pope Benedict's words last year when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he wrote the Stations of the Cross for Pope John Paul II.
Archbishop Comastri is Vicar General for Vatican City State and generally considered to be a rising star of the Church.
The Stations are being interpreted as another sign of the Church's hardening resolve against anti-Christian secularism in Europe.
And it was for the area of genetic engineering that Archbishop Comastri reserved his greatest condemnation.
The text described an "antiGenesis, a counter-plan, a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family" in the modern world.
The Archbishop condemned "scientific advances in the field of genetic manipulation" and cautioned against the move to "modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God, by these insane risky and dangerous ventures in attempting to take God's place without being God".
The Eighth Station, where Jesus met the women of Jerusalem, contained a tribute to motherhood: "River of tears shed by mothers, mothers of the crucified, mothers of murderers, mothers of drug addicts, mothers of terrorists. mothers of rapists, mothers of psychopaths... but mothers all the same."