VATICAN: Pope Benedict, opening the first major Catholic Church meeting since his election, said yesterday that trying to keep God out of public life was "not tolerance but hypocrisy".
The pope, during a solemn Mass in St Peter's Basilica opening a synod of more than 250 bishops from 118 countries, also said that too many Catholic lives could be compared to "vinegar rather than wine" because of the indifference to God.
He homed in on concerns dear to him since his election on April 19th - the health of the faith of individual Catholics and the entire church, and God's place in the public life.
"The type of tolerance which permits God as a private opinion but refuses to allow him in the public arena is, in the reality of the world and our life, not tolerance but hypocrisy," Pope Benedict said in the homily before the bishops.
"There can be no justice where man makes himself the only master of the world and of himself," the pope said during the Mass attended by thousands of people.
The official theme of the synod is the sacrament of the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is Christ's body and blood.
But discussion is expected on issues such as the shortage of priests, the decline in Mass attendance and whether Catholics who back abortion rights should be allowed to receive communion.
US Catholics were divided last year over whether they should support presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic who supported abortion rights.
Some Catholics say they personally would not have an abortion but, in pluralistic societies such as the United States, feel obliged to support a woman's right to choose.
But the synod's working document says Catholics cannot back politicians who openly support abortion.
There also have been legal conflicts in the United States and Italy about whether religious symbols such as crucifixes and the tablets of the Ten Commandments can stay in public places.
The three-week-long synod will offer advice to Pope Benedict, who is expected to attend all or most of the sessions, giving him a chance to meet many of the bishops for the first time.
Derek Scally writes:
A German newspaper has published extracts from a surprisingly bland secret file compiled on Pope Benedict XVI by the East German secret police, the Stasi.
From April 1974 to November 1989 at least eight unofficial informants (IM) contributed dozens of reports but few new insights or information.
"Ratzinger is seen at the Vatican as one of the staunchest opponents of communism," noted one IM in a report after the then Cardinal Ratzinger was called to Rome, a statement one leading German theologian Hans Küng dismissed yesterday as "no secret".
In 1981, a Stasi examination of Nazi archives produced no documents relating to Joseph Ratzinger, according to the file.
Germany's Bild am Sonntag splashed extracts of the file on its front page yesterday after receiving permission from the Vatican. - (Reuters)