"The church does not sacrifice trees"
"The church does not sacrifice trees," Paul Wuthe, a spokesman for the papal visit, told the Catholic news agency Kathpress.
Well that is comforting to know, but definitely not a statement you hear a a spokesman for the papal visit make often. Here is the article that prompted it.
They were planted to honor one pope. Now they're being purged for another.
Four stately lime trees ceremoniously planted near a popular Roman Catholic shrine in 1983 for a visit to Austria by the late Pope John Paul II are being uprooted to make way for a large grandstand for next month's pilgrimage by Pope Benedict XVI.
Environmentalists have criticized the action, but church and municipal officials are playing down the trees' significance.
"This shows the hypocrisy of the church," said Lambert Schoenleitner, a regional spokesman for the environmentalist Green Party in the southern province of Styria.
The hypocrisy of the church! I am shocked shocked I tell you! I am starting to loose my faith over this axing of papal trees makes me question my roots and I might leave to another branch. I might have to oPine on this further and this is no oak.
Schoenleitner believes nature should be revered as much as faith and doesn't think trees should be sacrificed for an event that will last just a few hours.
I want mercy and not sacrifice of trees.
Organizers say the trees must go to make room for a 52 1/2-foot-high steel grandstand to accommodate some of the thousands of pilgrims who will flock to the shrine town of Mariazell, 60 miles southwest of Vienna.
During his Sept. 7-9 visit, the seventh foreign trip in his two-year papacy, Benedict will make a stop in Mariazell to mark the 850th anniversary of its founding.
Officials conceded that a few more trees might have to be felled for the pope's stop in Mariazell, which the Archdiocese of Vienna considers the highlight of his visit. Up to 30,000 faithful are expected to converge on the shrine to the Virgin Mary.
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I find it humorous that while they oppose cutting down trees and want to hold them "revered as much as faith" thee Green Party is at its base pro-choice.
Maybe God will send some lightning and prepare the way Himself. That would settle the question nicely. Hey, wait a minute...what was that ark made of? If I were a tree, i'd be "honored" to give my life for God's work. (That's what I tell my kids at Christmas time, too!)
Some people are beyond parody.
"Hey, wait a minute...what was that ark made of?"
Not to mention the Cross.
I'm sorry, but I think the Greens are right for once. "Even a blind hog finds some acorns."
Not all the insane are in asylums.
Personally I do consider chopping down the trees a bit disrespectful to the memory of John Paul II.
Are there any details as to what they're planning on doing with these trees? It was my understanding that they're being uprooted, perhaps to be moved to a more appropriate location. I don't think they would simply "chop" them down. I agree with Melody, that would be disrespectful. I don't think its rocket science to uproot a tree and move it to another location. A new community was being developed near my work, which is called "Oak Ridge". Somehow the city was able to locate 2 large 30ft oak tree's and planted them at the entrance of this new community. I don't think 4 25yr old lime trees will be much of a challenge.