Papal preacher: Church risks obscuring word of God with excess words

Published: 2008-03-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church today risks obscuring the word of God with too many useless words of its own, said the preacher of the papal household. Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, in a Lenten meditation to Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials Feb. 29, said preachers ought to focus more on the essential Gospel message and less on their own embellishments. The "chatter" of the profane world has little to do with the church's mission, Father Cantalamessa said. "Too many human words, too many useless words, too many speeches, too many documents," he said. "In the age of mass communication, the church too risks sinking into the straw of useless words, pronounced just for the sake of saying them, written just because there are magazines and newspapers to fill," he said. Father Cantalamessa said preachers would do well to stick to the "simple and plain word of God" rather than filter it through "a thousand distinctions and clarifications and additions and explanations."

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