Consumerism, hedonism will be defeated by God's love, pope says

Published: 2007-08-15

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- The seemingly invincible ideologies of consumerism and hedonism and the reign of violence and terror will all be defeated by God's love, Pope Benedict XVI said. "It still seems impossible today to think that God ... is the true ruler of the world," the pope said during his homily Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But, in the end, "love wins, not selfishness," material power and hatred, he said to an audience of several hundred local parishioners. The pope's comments came while he celebrated Mass at St. Thomas Church in Castel Gandolfo, where the papal summer residence is located, south of Rome. Giving his homily without using a text or notes, the pope said that according to St. Augustine, human history has been driven by a struggle between two kinds of love: love for God in which one "loses oneself and gives oneself" totally to him and loving oneself to "the point of disparaging God and hating others."

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