Pope says God saves people from political, spiritual oppression

Published: 2003-12-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- From the beginning of time, God has acted to save his creatures from oppression, both political and spiritual, Pope John Paul II said. Reflecting on Psalm 114 during his Dec. 3 general audience, the pope said that just as God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt across the Red Sea he saves his people from slavery to sin through the waters of baptism. For Christians, he said, the psalm's hymn of praise extends to "a more radical and universal liberation," freedom from sin and death through new life in Christ. Pope John Paul said that in "The Divine Comedy" Dante placed the hymn on the lips of those in purgatory, "seeing in the psalm the hymn of expectation and hope of those who, after purification from every sin, are headed toward the ultimate destination of communion with God in paradise."

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