Word: pontiff
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...Mercedes-Benz limousine, quietly bade farewell to Vatican aides and boarded an Alitalia DC-10. Once again the Pope was airborne, setting forth this time on a strenuous twelve-day "pilgrimage of hope" to Latin America. Arriving at Caracas' Simon Bolivar Airport under a warm afternoon sun, the Pontiff, his white robe flapping in the soft Caribbean breezes, was greeted by Venezuelan President Jaime Lusinchi. Waving to the crowd, the Pope traveled in his converted Land Rover Popemobile along a twisting hillside road into the capital...
Indeed, one of the most enduring images of this pontificate is surely the white-garbed figure of John Paul descending from an aircraft, his arms spread wide, the familiar smile bestowed on a welcoming crowd. In his six years as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, he covered 210,000 miles during the 24 foreign voyages prior to his current trip. No other religious leader has ever traveled so extensively or been seen in person by so many millions of people. No previous Pope, moreover, has placed such a determined emphasis on the unifying message that John Paul...
Although papal authority has emerged as the overriding issue, there are also important debates about church involvement in contemporary social matters. John Paul has led the way, denouncing economic injustice and insisting on the rights of the downtrodden. Taking their lead from the Pontiff, American bishops are issuing strong moral stands on their nation's nuclear arms strategy, the U.S. economic system and the evil of abortion. Bishops in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other lands have boldly denounced human rights abuses by their governments. In South Africa, white Archbishop Denis Hurley will go on trial...
...Gutierrez affairs are quite likely to continue. However successful the Pope has been so far in fixing the limits of church orthodoxy, an informed Jesuit in Rome acknowledges that "the church in Latin America is changing, and everyone accepts that a long-term process has begun." For the Supreme Pontiff, the task of defining liberation also may be a long...
...talk, the Pontiff declared that sex "ceases to be an act of love" whenever artificial birth control is used. That idea appeared hi a book that he wrote in 1960, when he was a bishop, but is new to papal teaching. John Paul also stresses that acceptable natural methods of birth control can be an "abuse" if practiced for "unworthy reasons." Pope Pius XII, in a 1951 speech, said that Catholic couples could use the natural, or rhythm, method for serious "medical, eugenic, economic and social" reasons. John Paul shows little enthusiasm for promoting even these methods...