Opposite of a pure heart is hypocrisy, papal preacher tells pope

Published: 2007-03-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The beatitude, "Blessed are the pure of heart," is an appeal for honesty and humility, the preacher of the papal household told Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials. Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, leading the traditional Friday Lenten reflection at the Vatican March 9, said that only in the 19th century did people begin equating the phrase of Jesus with "do not commit impure acts." The opposite of purity of heart, he said, is not impurity but hypocrisy. In the teaching of Jesus, purity of heart is not a specific virtue, but rather a quality that must accompany all virtues, he said. It is the quality that ensures a good deed or correct attitude is truly a virtue and not a mask or act put on in order to win praise and adulation, he said.

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