AUSTRIA: Pope Benedict calls on Catholics to keep Sunday a day of reflection

Pope Benedict called on Catholics to keep Sunday a day set aside for reflection and not surrender it to "the mad rush of the modern world". The Pontiff made his call on the last day of a trip to Austria during a Mass in Vienna's majestic St. Stephen's Cathedral. Pope Benedict on Sunday (September 9) called on Catholics to keep the Sabbath, which falls on Sunday for Christians, set aside for reflection on their faith and not surrender it to the hectic pace of the modern world. "Sunday, in our Western society, has changed into the weekend, free time. Free time is something nice and necessary in the mad rush of the modern world, we all know that, but when free time does not have an inner centrepoint which provides the orientation for everything else, then it becomes empty time which does not strengthen us," Pope Benedict said. The Pontiff made his call on the last day of a trip to Austria during a Mass in Vienna's majestic St. Stephen's Cathedral whose colourfully patterned tiled mosaic roof and 136-metre high (445 feet) tower are the city's main landmark. During the outdoor Angelus prayer a gust of wind blew the Pope's hat from his head. As the sun came out on one of the rare occasions during a visit marked by unseasonably wet weather, the Pope said the wind was speaking too, a comment which was met with applause and cheers from the crowd. Austria, like many other Western European countries, has seen declining Church attendance on Sunday, just one sign of what Benedict sees as a rapid decline in religious sentiment that he would like to see turned around. Croatian guest worker living in Vienna, Martin Cinko, who attended the outdoor Angelus prayer with his wife and children said he thinks Austrians place more emphasis on earning money to fund their lifestyle. "I think it is because they are well off, they make good money which they can spend elsewhere. Then again, they work a lot and are under stress so they don't have much energy to devote to spiritual matters," he said. While the Pope was celebrating the mass, Austrian grassroots dissident Catholic group "We Are Church" were holding a small protest in the city centre. The group wants the Vatican to ordain married men and to give women a greater role in the Church. "We are demanding the end of compulsory celibacy. We are demanding the admittance of women into the diocese and eventually into the priesthood," member of the group Paul Weitzler told Reuters . The Pope, on his seventh trip outside Italy since his election in 2005, was due to visit a monastery and address Catholic volunteer groups before returning to Rome on Sunday night.

ITN Source | September 9, 2007

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