 Pope John Paul II said Sunday that Christmas' true meaning risked being lost by a "consumerist mentality" that is fueled by publicity.
To combat the trend, gift-givers should remember the poor and needy this holiday season, the pope said. The 82-year-old pontiff made the comments in his weekly appearance in St. Peter's Square, already decked with a towering Christmas tree and parts of the creche, the traditional scene depicting Christ's birth in a manger. "The simplicity of the creche contrasts with the image of Christmas that sometimes is shown by insistent publicity messages," the pope said. "Even the beautiful tradition of exchanging Christmas gifts among friends and family, under the impact of a certain consumerist mentality, risks losing its authentic sense of Christmas," he said. He said instead, the holiday season gave the faithful the opportunity to turn gestures of gift-giving into gestures of "solidarity and welcoming toward the poor and needy." (Agencies) | 約翰保羅教皇二世22日指出，圣誕節(jié)真正的意義正逐漸喪失，有可能被公眾中的一種日益膨脹的"消費(fèi)主義心態(tài)"所取代。 他說(shuō)，為了阻止這樣的趨勢(shì)，當(dāng)人們?cè)诠?jié)日期間互贈(zèng)禮物的時(shí)候應(yīng)該意識(shí)到，此時(shí)此刻還有很多吃不飽穿不暖的窮人們。 這位82高齡的教皇是在出席每周一次的圣彼得廣場(chǎng)見(jiàn)面會(huì)時(shí)說(shuō)這番話(huà)的。廣場(chǎng)已經(jīng)裝飾了高大的圣誕樹(shù)，部分還布置成了傳說(shuō)中耶酥基督在馬槽出生時(shí)眾人圍繞初生嬰兒的的情景。  教皇說(shuō)："基督耶酥誕生時(shí)的簡(jiǎn)陋場(chǎng)景和公眾所崇尚的圣誕氣氛形成了鮮明的對(duì)比。"
他還說(shuō)："在某些消費(fèi)主義心態(tài)的沖擊之下，即便是朋友和家人之間交換圣誕禮物這種美好的傳統(tǒng)，也會(huì)喪失其本來(lái)的意義。" 他還指出，忠實(shí)信徒們應(yīng)該借助圣誕節(jié)這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，把表達(dá)情感的方式由單純的互贈(zèng)禮物轉(zhuǎn)變成"聯(lián)合起來(lái)向生活困苦的人們表示關(guān)心"。 基督誕生塑像（描繪瑪利亞、約瑟等人圍繞著馬槽中初生基督的情景，常于圣誕節(jié)陳列） （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2002-12-25 01:00
