Friday, January 11, 2008

Pope denounces "degraded" Rome

Pope Benedict XVI denounced Thursday 'the very grave degradation of certain parts of Rome' and, in a meeting with the city officials, also warned against any moves threatening the traditional family.

Rising cost of living, especially the price of accommodation, unemployment together with 'often inadequate salaries and pensions, make living conditions truly difficulty for many individuals and families' the pontiff said.

Benedict's remarks were made to Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni who, accompanied by other local officials visited the Vatican, a sovereign enclave near the Italian capital's centre.

The pontiff urged 'constant and real efforts, with the dual and inseparable aims of guaranteeing the safety of citizens and ensuring that everyone, immigrants in particular, have at least the indispensable minimum for an honest and dignified life.'

Then in an apparent reference to plans by members of Veltroni's centre-left coalition to introduce a municipal register for civil unions - including same-sex ones - the pontiff reiterated his stance on the traditional family based on heterosexual marriage.

'Unfortunately, we daily see how unrelenting and threatening are the attacks and misunderstandings suffered by this fundamental human and social institution', the pontiff said of the traditional family.

'It is, then, more necessary than ever that public administrations do not support such negative tendencies but, on the contrary, give the family their convinced and concrete support, in the certainty that in this way they are working for the common good,' Benedict said.

Benedict also referred to the what he called an 'educational emergency' in the Italian capital, noting how 'it seems ever more difficult convincingly to present new generations with firm certainties and criteria upon which to build their lives.'
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