[ik911]

from CNN.com
Pope: Materialism pollutes Christmas

Sunday, December 11, 2005 Posted: 1402 GMT (2202 HKT)

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- Pope Benedict has warned against rampant materialism which he said was polluting the spirit of Christmas.

"In today's consumer society, this time of the year unfortunately suffers from a sort of commercial 'pollution' that threatens to alter its real spirit," the Pope told a large crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square on Sunday to hear his weekly Angelus blessing.

He said Christmas should be marked with sober celebrations and urged Christians to display a nativity crib in their houses as "a simple but effective way of showing their faith and conveying it to their children."

Last year, under Pope John Paul, the Vatican launched a high-profile campaign to urge Roman Catholic Italy not to compromise the spirit of Christmas through excess or dilute its message out of fear of offending a growing Muslim population.

The quickpoll next to the article revealed that 88% of the people agree with the title.

However, a number of questions rise:
- do you intend to spend more than last year or the same? (or less than last year... yeah, right, keep fooling yourself.)
- how much do you spend on Christmas?
- do you agree with the pope?
and the question that I find most interesting concerning the article:
- should Christmas, the feast of light, be a sober celebration or a good once-per-year excuse for feasting and big spending?