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Pope attacks media
12/05/2007 09:00 - (SA)
Sao Paulo, Brazil - Pope Benedict XVI accused the media of promoting sexual immorality as he canonised Brazil's first native-born saint Friday before hundreds of thousands of faithful and a sea of flags from the world's largest Catholic nation.
Holding up Friar Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao as a model of rectitude and humility "in an age so full of hedonism," Benedict said the world needs clear souls and pure minds, adding: "It is necessary to oppose those elements of the media that ridicule the sanctity of marriage and virginity before marriage."
Benedict did not elaborate, but his message for Brazilian Catholics reflected his uneasiness with the impact of popular culture on young people.
In January, the pope cautioned that "any trend to produce programs and products - including animated films and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behavior or the trivialisation of human sexuality is a perversion."
Meeting on Friday with Brazil's 430 bishop's in Sao Paulo's cathedral, Benedict lamented the nation is in the midst of "difficult times for the church" amid "aggressive proselytising" by born-again Protestant congregations.
The country's census shows the percentage of citizens characterising themselves as Catholics plunged to 74% in 2000 from 89% in 1980, while those calling themselves evangelical Protestants rose to 15% from 7%.
The pope's message on immorality could be a tough sell in Brazil. Though more than 70 percent of the nation's 190 million citizens are Catholic, sex before marriage is common. And while polls show Brazilians oppose expanding access to abortion, they overwhelmingly support using condoms to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
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