Young Catholics want Pope to uphold Church sex stand
Thu Aug 18, 2005 9:01 PM IST
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - They're full of life, brimming with raging hormones and Catholic. So what do young people at the World Youth Day want to hear from their 78-year-old Pope about sex?

The hundreds of thousands gathered in this Rhineland city all know that Pope Benedict staunchly upholds the Church's ban on pre-marital sex, contraception, gay marriage and other aspects of what he rejects as a modern "anything goes" morality.

Clearly not all of them follow this to the letter -- and their bishops know it. But that doesn't mean the Catholic youths who've flocked here from around the world don't want Benedict to preach what he believes.

"We don't want to hear only what pleases us," said Pascal Straszewski, 21, a Frankfurt law student. "Faith means holding fast to ideals."

"Nobody wants to hear a lie," added Felicity Elvis, 18, a journalism student from Brisbane, Australia. "Politicians lie to us all the time. We're tired of being lied to."

"Why should the Church change with the times?" asked Mexico City student Ibanez Monserrat, 19. "What it says works for all kinds of people."

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