Church doesn't seek to secure power, privileges for itself, says pope

Published: 2007-10-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church does not seek to secure power, privileges, or economic and social advantages for itself, Pope Benedict XVI said. The church's sole aim "is to serve mankind," encouraging people to look to the words and actions of Jesus as their "supreme rule of conduct," he said. The pope made his comments in an address to Italy's new ambassador to the Vatican, Antonio Zanardi Landi, who presented his credentials to the pope in a ceremony at the Vatican Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a patron saint of Italy. Pope Benedict said the church would never cease to offer its specific contribution of "promoting and highlighting the true, good and beautiful" that can be found in the world. He reaffirmed that church and state are independent and autonomous sovereign entities that freely engage in "reciprocal collaboration for the promotion of mankind and the good of the whole nation."

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