Pope Benedict Talks American Catholic Sex and Marriage to Bishops - Full Text and Observations

No doubt the remarks of the Pope to the American Bishops in Rome today will get a lot of play. As always there is the need to see the full text.

A few observations .( Please read the whole thing).

First it seems these remarks are quite lengthy compared to some other addresses to the Bishops during these ad limina visits.

Second while Pope Benedict is on his own is very concerned there is no doubt in my mind that Pope Benedict is using the occasion to be a megaphone for the U.S Bishops concerns. In other words it is PETER Talking , but he is lending a voice to the other successors of the apostles. That is the U.S. Bishops. It would be curious if this address had developed some as Benedict and the Curia have consulted with the American Bishops as these ad limina visits have rolled along

Finally while the one paragraph that explicity hits same sex marriage will get the headlines , the rest is pretty much hey all Catholics start living a Chrisitan moral life as to sexual practices. In other words I know we are in this state of affairs because "straight" Catholics have not been living the Gospel. So get your own house in order. I am struck by the cohabitation theme which is a major problem even now in the most conservative evangelical of congregations.

It should be noted that in the closing paragraphs :

Let me conclude by recalling that all our efforts in this area are ultimately concerned with the good of children, who have a fundamental right to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. Children are the greatest treasure and the future of every society: truly caring for them means recognizing our responsibility to teach, defend and live the moral virtues which are the key to human fulfillment. It is my hope that the Church in the United States, however chastened by the events of the past decade, will persevere in its historic mission of educating the young and thus contribute to the consolidation of that sound family life which is the surest guarantee of intergenerational solidarity and the health of society as a whole.

That is no doubt in reference to the Clerical Sex abuse scandals.