Posted by Somebody on May 03, 2001 at 23:23:46:
In Reply to: Re: The Pope's visit to Greece posted by GS on May 03, 2001 at 03:55:58:
I don't see how the Pope's visit can be construed as a farce or that he is "dragged around the corners of the world" by church officials. The Greek president invited him and he accepted the invitation, it's that simple. This particular Pope has always traveled a great deal and I hardly believe he's done so in order to be canonized. Do you really think the Catholic Church canonizes saints based on the amount of traveling one has done and if "especially Greece" was on the list of countries visited?
Any history of any organized religion includes mixing religion with politics. The Orthodox Church was recently actively involved in making sure that one's (Orthodox, of course) religion was included as part of the standard information on the new Greek identifications. They are in an uproar over a sect of the Orthodox Church making popular religious music CDs and a video to promote Christianity. Granted, these examples of politics in religion have much less impact than the Inquisition, but they are **current**. The Catholic Church's history shouldn't be forgotten, nor should it be used to detract attention from the policies it has today.