Vatican City, Jan 11, 2017 / 03:38 am
On Wednesday Pope Francis issued strong words against worshipping idols, cautioning against the false hope that beauty, wealth and power can give, but which lead a person to trust in empty promises rather than in the Lord.
"It's terrible, it hurts the soul what I heard one time years ago in the diocese of Buenos Aires: a woman, a good woman, very, very beautiful and who bragged about her beauty, commented as if it were natural: 'Yeah, I had to have an abortion because my figure is so important.'"
Attitudes like this, he said "are the idols, and they take you on the wrong path and they don't bring you happiness."
Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall during his weekly general audience, continuing his catechesis on Christian hope. While he has so far focused on the meaning and source of hope, in today's audience he highlighted several types of false hope that can endanger one's relationship with God.
In his address, the Pope said hope is "a primary need for man: to hope in the future, to believe in life, the so-called 'thinking positive.'"