One step forward, two steps back

Divorce, abortion an offence to God, pope says:

"Divorce and abortion are offences in the sight of God, Pope Benedict XVI charged Saturday, while calling on the Catholic Church to be merciful to those who had experienced such events."

This is my problem with this Pope -- he seems to talk out of the both sides of his mouth.
How can you call it a serious offense and then call for mercy?

Now the Church had maintained that the act of divorce was not the way they wanted to handle things because it opened up both parties to the aspect of adulterous sin afterwards ... it was not the divorce that was the sin (after all they even have spouses - mostly women - being set aside for one reason or another) but rather the remarriage/relationships afterwards.

Abortion - well that's different. The Church sees this as the inpostion of man's will onto something seen as God's will ... It is seen as the termination of Life, which can only be imbued by the will of God. And yes there are times when an abortion is accepted by the Church, such as tubal ligations ...

This Pope is undoing all the great strides made by JP2!! It is just sad to see what he is doing.
The Church needs to move forward ... not take strides backwards.

I swear this guy is taking pains to undo all of JP2's work. It makes me want to cry. This man doesn't seem to have any understanding of how to talk to people. So many times already he has put his foot into his mouth.

I can see why so many people fear that this will be the last Pope .... I really feel he will push people away from the church just by the way he comes across to people.