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spiritual rubbish...
Pope Benedict has warned that a form of colonialism continues to blight Africa.
Opening a three-week synod of African bishops, he said political colonialism was over.
But he said the developed world continued to export materialism - which he called "toxic spiritual rubbish" - to the continent.
Almost 200 bishops from 53 African states have gathered to discuss how the Catholic Church can help resolve the continent's social injustices and wars.
The Pope says he will attend as many of the working sessions of the synod as possible, his other duties permitting.
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Unfortunate expressions from an unfortunate proselytist...
- By Gus Leonisky at 5 Oct 2009 - 9:44am
- Gus Leonisky's blog
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token women as usual...
He said Africa also suffered increasing religious fundamentalism, in the form of religious groups which "act on behalf of God" but "teach intolerance and violence".
'Talking shop'
The Pope said evangelisation was "urgent" in Africa - though the Catholic Church is already growing faster there than in any other part of the world, nearly trebling in size to 150 million followers over 30 years.
....
A small number of women religious have also been invited to attend.
papal cant .....
Pope Benedict ended his visit to the Czech Republic by pointing to the collapse of the Soviet Union as an example of the fate that awaits those who choose power over God. It seems the pope has sunk his teeth into a half truth. Power is problematic, but you don't have to deny God to pursue it. With or without God, the consequences can be devastating. His own church is a shining example of this.
In the fourteenth century, the church discovered that it has a problem. In villages throughout Europe, the influence of the local priest was undercut by wise women and healers. If you were sick, all a priest could do was pray over you. A wise woman, on the other hand, could make you better.
The wise women possessed another talent, they could cast spells. It was very democratic No matter how powerful you were, you'd think twice before messing with one of your lesser souls for fear he'd head for the nearest healer and lay a curse on you.
For the church, the solution was simple-declare the wise women witches and burn them at the stake. With their competition toast, the priests would have a free hand. The church even published the Malleus Malefactorum, a forerunner of our Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Both helped authorities root out deviant behavior. (Granted, we're more civilized; instead of the stake, we medicate.)
Estimates of how many women were burned vary wildly. Record keeping in those days was a little sloppy, so it is doubtful an accurate count will ever be arrived at. Apologists claim the number was as low as 60,000 while others put it as high as 9 million.
Whatever the number the end result was a civilized Europe in which the sick were prayed over with gusto.
http://www.countercurrents.org/wagenvoord051009.htm