Benedict attacks ‘consumer’ religion

POPE Benedict XVI yesterday criticised an “explosion” in religious consumerism and those profiting from it.

He spoke at a Mass in Cologne attended by up to one million pilgrims celebrating the World Youth Day festival.

The 78-year-old Pope, referring to the growth of new sects, said there was “a kind of new explosion of religion” that if pushed too far, turned religion into “almost a consumer product”.