01/13/13
In this photo released by the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, left, blesses a child at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. The pope baptized 16 babies in the splendor of the Sistine Chapel. Some of the infants looked at him wide-eyed after he poured water from a golden shell-shaped dish over their forehead, as Benedict administered the sacrament Sunday, welcoming them formally by name into the Catholic church. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)
VATICAN CITY -- The frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel are ringing with the wails and coos of newborns as Pope Benedict XVI presides over his annual Mass to baptize 20 babies.
Other babies slept through the Mass during which Benedict told the godparents their job is to teach the faith by example, even if it's unfashionable, and show that Christianity isn't a limit to personal freedom as it is sometimes portrayed.
He says: "It's not always easy to openly and uncompromisingly show your beliefs, especially in the context in which we live, in a society that often considers unfashionable those who live out their faith in Jesus."
He says faith isn't something that "mortifies" personal relations. He says, "It's not like that at all! This vision shows one hasn't understood anything about the relationship with God."
Other babies slept through the Mass during which Benedict told the godparents their job is to teach the faith by example, even if it's unfashionable, and show that Christianity isn't a limit to personal freedom as it is sometimes portrayed.
He says: "It's not always easy to openly and uncompromisingly show your beliefs, especially in the context in which we live, in a society that often considers unfashionable those who live out their faith in Jesus."
He says faith isn't something that "mortifies" personal relations. He says, "It's not like that at all! This vision shows one hasn't understood anything about the relationship with God."
