What the Pope REALLY Said to Diplomats

You could read the AP version, which is........ridiculous.

Or you could read the Catholic News Service version, which has the advantage of being cohesive.

War, hunger, oppression, environmental degradation and the current global financial crisis are all the result of selfishness and a lack of respect for the human person created in God's image, Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats from around the world.

"If we wish to build true peace, how can we separate or even set at odds the protection of the environment and the protection of human life, including the life of the unborn?" the pope asked ambassadors from the 178 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

...The pope told the diplomats that a "self-centered and materialistic way of thinking," which ignores the fact that human beings are creatures and not gods, triggered the current global economic crisis and is also the attitude behind the devastation of the environment.

"The denial of God distorts the freedom of the human person, yet it also devastates creation," he said.

Yup.