Pope Benedict XVI addressed over 150,000 people in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday as part of Whirled-Youth Day World Youth Day, a massive Catholic get-together meant to infuse the church with the energy of its youth. The pontiff commented on the beauty of the natural world as he saw it from aboard the papal plane. That Pope’s-eye-view, he said, was a source of inspiration and wonder. “It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story — light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth, and living creatures.” However, all is not well with the world’s environment, he said. “Reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth, erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world’s mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption.” Which reminds us, anyone wanna buy a slightly used bobble-head Pope?
