At a time when the world needs wisdom and compassionate guidance from, both, our sacred and secular leaders, the Catholic Church instead doubles-down on its antiquated worldview regarding tolerance and equality with an announcement by the Pope that abortion and gay marriage are a danger to peace and justice. As reported by the Associated Press (via FoxNew.com), after 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI lit the traditional Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, using the occasion to reference a time when “past atheist regimes” turned off the lights, he expounded on the issue of religion and freedom:

“And when in the past they tried to stamp out the light of God to instead turn on illusory and misleading glows, there were seasons of tragic violence against man,” he said. “And this is because when they tried to cancel God’s name from the pages of history, the result was a distortion, where even the most noble and beautiful words, like `freedom,’ `common good’ and `justice’ … lost their true meaning.”