Discussion 1 to Meditation 814
Not the Love Pope© after all
by: JT
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Back in the early days of Benedict© XVI's papacy, he surprised most observers when the first encyclical letter he released was on Love. He had been expected to follow in John Paul© II's authoritarian footsteps, and here he was writing on love - as if he was taking the lead set by John© XXIII. Well, that did not last long, and the centralizing authoritarian process was quickly resumed.
But still, you would think the Pope© would maintain an interest in promoting a message of love.
Benetton, the Italian clothing manufacturer unleashed a new ad campaign with an anti-hate message. It consists of photoshopped images of various world political and religious figures firmly kissing each other on the lips. One of the images featured the Pope© kissing an Imam.
And the Vatican© reacted by going ballistic and threatened to sue Benetton, which of course, thanks to copyrighting the Pope's© image, is a credible threat. Benetton promptly caved and withdrew this particular image.
So much for this Pope's© original message of "Love."