Sinless life isn't boring, Pope Benedict says

Dec 8, 2005, 14:45 GMT

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday urged Catholics not to confuse 'a sinless life' with a 'boring life'.

The 78-year-old pontiff issued his warning during a morning mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the day in which Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - the idea that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved by God from the stain of original sin at the time of her own conception.

'On the feast of the Immaculate Conception the suspicion may surface that a person who never sins is, deep down, boring; that there might be something missing from their lives ... that it is only by testing our freedom - even against God - that we become fully ourselves ... that a little evil is, after all, good, perhaps even necessary,' Benedict said.

'But if one looks at the world around him, one may see that this is not the case, ' he added.

'And it is this that we must learn on this day: people who abandon themselves entirely in the hands of God do not become one of God's puppets; boring, consenting people; they do not lose their freedom ... quite the contrary: it is only then that their hearts truly awaken and that they become sensible, open and kind people,' the pope explained.

Benedict made his sermon during a solemn mass marking the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council - a landmark assembly of officials that was designed to bring the Catholic Church up to date with the modern world.

Known simply as Vatican II, the ecumenical council of 1962-1965 is considered a milestone in the modern history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Notable changes ushered in by the council include allowing mass to be celebrated in languages other than Latin, and the opening up of relations with Jews, previously ostracized by the Vatican under the belief that they were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Ratzinger was still a young priest from Germany when he took part in the council as a theological consultant to Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne. He has since made numerous references to that event, particularly since his election as Pope Benedict XVI.

The pope then met the faithful outside the basilica for the traditional Angelus prayer and blessed the Olympic torch ahead of its departure on an 11,300 kilometres long relay around Italy.

The torch is scheduled to arrive in Turin on February 9, a day before the opening ceremony of the XX Winter Olympic Games.

'May this flame remind everyone of the values of peace and fraternity that lie at the basis of the Olympics,' Benedict said after it was carried to St. Peter's Square by a Swiss Guard.

Benedict's busy day was to see him take part later on Thursday in traditional December 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrations near Rome's Spanish Steps.

Thursday also marks the day in which the pope signs his first encyclical. The eagerly-awaited document is expected to be made public during the Christmas period, Vatican sources have said.