[Update from Cyprian] This sounded too good to be true, and as it turns out, it isn't. It's just the Daily Mail trying to stir the pot. They have even modified their story today, changing the original title
(article).
The "offending" line is taken from meditations on the "Way of the Cross" by Archbishop Menamparampil of Guwahati, India, delivered on Good Friday at the Colosseum with Pope Benedict presiding. At the Seventh Station, the bishop prayed, "Allow us not to drift into the desert of godlessness."
Here is the whole prayer:
We have faith, Lord, but not enough. Help us to have more. May we never question or mock serious things in life like a cynic. Allow us not to drift into the desert of godlessness. Enable us to perceive you in the gentle breeze, see you in street corners, love you in the unborn child.
God, enable us to understand that on Tabor or Calvary, your Son is the Lord. Robed or stripped of his garments, he is the Saviour of the world. Make us attentive to his quiet presences: in his “word”, in tabernacles, shrines, humble places, simple persons, the life of the poor, laughter of children, whispering pines, rolling hills, the tiniest living cell, the smallest atom, and the distant galaxies.
May we watch with wonder as he walks on the waters of the Rhine and the Nile and the Tanganyika.
Does "yuk" about cover it?
Pope Benedict's Good Friday address can be found here. Try to find the word "sin."
Those familiar with the traditional Stations of the Cross might be interested in the new version the Pope presided at on Good Friday (link here). The artwork is, well, different, as are the stations themselves. At least there are still fourteen of them. Here is the list of stations:
FIRST STATION
Jesus in agony in the Garden of Olives
SECOND STATION
Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and restrains Peter from violence
THIRD STATION
Jesus is held guilty by the Sanhedrin
FOURTH STATION
Jesus is denied by Peter
FIFTH STATION
Jesus is judged by Pilate
SIXTH STATION
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
SEVENTH STATION
After Jesus is made an object of fun, he is led out to be crucified
EIGHTH STATION
Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross
NINTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
TENTH STATION
Jesus is crucified
ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus promises his Kingdom to the Good Thief
TWELFTH STATION
The Mother of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the Cross
THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus dies on the Cross
FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is taken down from the Cross and placed in the tomb
