Vatican: Pope lectures German ambassador on abortion, prostitution, porn

Vatican City, 7 Nov. (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI received the new German ambassador to the Holy See on Monday, lecturing him about abortion, pornography and prostitution..

"Only a society which unconditionally respects and defends the dignity of each human being, from conception to natural end, can call itself a human society," Benedict told Reinhard Schweppe, the new German ambassador.

The pope then criticised discrimination and sexual exploitation of against women in Western countries like his native Germany.

"It is a critical problem which, due to materialistic and hedonistic tendencies, seems to be on the increase, above all in the Western world".

"A relationship which fails to take account of the fact that man and woman have equal dignity represents a grave affront to humankind," he said. "The time has come to take an energetic stance against prostitution and the widespread availability of erotic and pornographic material, also on the Internet."