Pope Benedict XVI began Holy Week celebrations by telling a Palm
Sunday crowd that man will pay the price for his pride if he believes
technology can give him the powers of God.
He presided at a
colourful celebration where tens of thousands of people waved palm and
olive branches to commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem the week
before he was crucified.
The pope, who turned 84 yesterday, wove
his sermon around the theme of man's relationship with God and how it
can sometimes be threatened by technology.
"From the beginning men
and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a
desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God by their own
powers," he said, wearing resplendent red and gold vestments.
"Mankind
has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear
and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth. And yet
the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," he said.
While
the great advances of technology have improved life for man, the pope
said, they have also increased possibilities for evil, and recent
natural disasters were a reminder, if any were needed, that mankind is
not all-powerful.
If man wanted a relationship with God he had to
first "abandon the pride of wanting to become God," said the pope,
celebrating his sixth Easter season as the head of the 1.2 billion
member Roman Catholic church.
Holy Week services at the Vatican
culminate on Easter Sunday, the most important day in the liturgical
calendar, when the pope delivers his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the
city and the world) blessing and message.