The Papal Christmas Greetings: On Line All The Time

It’s as traditional as the Church, marking the second most important day in the Liturgical Calendar with greetings, wishes and reflections. Benedict XVI is taking every opportunity this year to make sure his thoughts and observations are available to everyone.

The messages began pouring out early beginning with the occasion of the annual exchange of greetings between the Pope and the Curia. Appropriately enough given the time and attention that the sexual abuse scandal has demanded, His Holiness spent much of his greeting tackling the issue head on. “We were all the more dismayed, then, when in this year of all years and to a degree we could not have imagined, we came to know of abuse of minors committed by priests who twist the sacrament into its antithesis, and under the mantle of the sacred profoundly wound human persons in their childhood, damaging them for a whole lifetime.” Given that the Pope’s penchant for contemplation and reflection, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he both apologized, once again, and attempted to put the issue into some context “But neither can we remain silent regarding the context of these times in which these events have come to light. There is a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society. The psychological destruction of children, in which human persons are reduced to articles of merchandise, is a terrifying sign of the times. From Bishops of developing countries I hear again and again how sexual tourism threatens an entire generation and damages its freedom and its human dignity.” As was to be expected the Pope’s comments weren’t greeted with universal excitement and in particular, victim’s groups were offended, while others took a more nuanced view.

The next major occasion for Papal Christmas Reflections comes on Christmas Eve when the Pope, in a truly unprecedented move, delivers the BBC 4 Thought for The Day. It had been rumoured that the Pope might do this most prestigious British public forum during his Papal Visit in the fall but it turns out the Vatican had something more spectacular in mind. The 3-4 minute daily address has been a regular feature for 40 years and has been offered by leading members of most faith groups. This is a first for a Pope and has been the subject of months of negotiations. The address will be available via the BBC website and is expected to be listened to by hundreds of millions of people in Britain and around the world. It has been the subject of much speculation and one might say excitement, though of course not for everyone as Damian Thompson of The Daily Telegraph points out with much wit.

And keeping with the spirit of greater communication and the Vatican’s push to use the new tools of social communication effectively, Christmas Mass, New Year’s Mass and the Pope’s noon address on Christmas day will be available via TV, Radio and the Internet.