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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Humanity has lost its way, says new Pope Humanity has lost its way, says new Pope By Bruce Johnston in Rome (Filed: 25/04/2005) In pictures: The life of Pope Benedict XVI At his inauguration ceremony yesterday Pope Benedict XVI indicated that his papacy may turn out to be even more outspoken than the last on social and political issues. Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful in St Peter's Square yesterday after being invested After being invested with the symbols of his office, a pallium, or wool scarf, and the papal fisherman's ring, the pontiff obliquely criticised both political tyrannies and environmental degradation. His message was delivered softly but firmly to a crowd of 500,000 packing St Peter's Square, including some 150 foreign delegations of world and religious leaders, and a number of royals. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was given pride of place in the front row of representatives of other denominations who heard the Pope appeal for Christian unity. Prince Philip was also at the Vatican, as was Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, representing the Government, Lady Bolton for the Conservatives and Lady Williams for the Liberal Democrats. Among the royals were Prince Albert of Monaco, and the King and Queen of Belgium. In a homily in Italian, which was interrupted by applause 39 times, Pope Benedict - who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been John Paul II's guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy - omitted to say how he intended to address matters of dogma. Instead he painted a picture of humanity's "wretched" soul being "lost in the desert" of the modern age, which as Peter's successor it was his duty to save. The Pope also greeted the crowd from an open topped ‘Popemobile’ He said that the symbolism of the pallium was meant to represent the parable of the lost sheep that the shepherd seeks in the desert. "The human race - every one of us - is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer knows the way," the Pope said. "The Son of God will not let this happen. He cannot abandon humanity in so wretched a condition. And there are so many kinds of desert. There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. "The earth's treasures no longer serve to build God's garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction." The new Pope then launched an attack against acts of intervention for allegedly good ends, which may have been a reference to the American-led occupation in Iraq which his predecessor, John Paul II - often in less shrill terms - had condemned. "How often do we wish that God would make show Himself stronger, that He would strike decisively, defeating evil and creating a better world," said the Pope. "All ideologies of power justify themselves in exactly this way, they justify the destruction of whatever would stand in the way of progress and the liberation of humanity." Among those in the American delegation was President George W Bush's brother Jeb, a Catholic convert. The Pope also hailed Catholicism's "great shared spiritual heritage" with Judaism. He said the reason why the Church had coped with John Paul II's death, and the election of a successor, was because it was "not alone", since it had God's saints for company. "And now, at this moment, weak servant of God that I am, I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. "How can I do this? How will I be able to do it?" he asked. "All of you, my dear friends, have just invoked the entire host of saints. "In this way, I too can say with renewed conviction 'I am not alone'." The hordes of Poles who had flocked to Rome with the death of John Paul II appeared to have melted away, to be replaced by a smaller, less vocal or colourful group of pilgrims from Germany, the country of the Pope's birth. Along the broad avenue sweeping down to St Peter's, the windows of a primary school were plastered with banners. One read: "Dear Papa, our little hearts love you."
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