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Pope Calls for Holding Line on Divorce

Benedict, in France, urges bishops to ignore trends

By Drew Nelles,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2008 5:27 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Pope Benedict XVI urged bishops to uphold the Catholic tradition of marriage today during a 150,000-strong mass in Lourdes, the French town where apparitions of Madonna reportedly appeared in 1858, AFP reports. Benedict pledged not to allow divorced Catholics into the church and told bishops to "uphold firmly, even at the cost of opposing prevailing trends."

"Initiatives aimed at blessing irregular unions cannot be admitted," he added. The visit was Benedict's first to France since becoming Pope 3 years ago, and comes at a time when French Catholicism is waning. It remains the nation's most popular religion, but a recent poll showed that only 10% of French Catholics go to mass regularly.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in a muddy field to join the Pope for a Sunday Mass marking the 150th anniversary of a peasant girl's religious visions in Lourdes.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in a muddy field to join the Pope for a Sunday Mass marking the 150th anniversary of a peasant girl's religious visions in Lourdes.   (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
Pope Benedict XVI, left, speaks next to the Crowned Virgin Mary at the end of the Marian Procession of Light at the Rosary Basilica, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, in the Sanctuary of Lourdes, France.
Pope Benedict XVI, left, speaks next to the Crowned Virgin Mary at the end of the Marian Procession of Light at the Rosary Basilica, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, in the Sanctuary of Lourdes, France.   (AP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli, Pool)
Pope Benedict XVI, sitting in his popemobile, is greeted by wellwishers and faithful as he leaves following an outdoors Mass in Lourdes, southwestern France, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008.
Pope Benedict XVI, sitting in his popemobile, is greeted by wellwishers and faithful as he leaves following an outdoors Mass in Lourdes, southwestern France, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
The pontiff instructed bishops to uphold the definition of marriage as a stable union between a man and a woman at a massive mass in Lourdes, France.
The pontiff instructed bishops to uphold the definition of marriage as a "stable union" between a man and a woman at a massive mass in Lourdes, France.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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Pope Benedict XVI • France • Catholicism • Lourdes Leon

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