Tarot, palm readings are idolatry, says Francis

Tarot cards and palm readings are idolatrous, according to Pope Francis, and should be shunned alongside other modern 'idols'.

The pope was speaking at his weekly audience yesterday after a month-long summer break. He asked his hearers: 'How many of you go to pray with tarot cards to see your future? How many of you go to get your hands read to see your future, instead of praying to God?'

He said: 'God is living, the rest [of these] are idols, and they aren't useful.'

Francis was expounding the first commandment, 'You shall have no other gods before me.'

He pointed to the Greek origin of the word 'idol', which means 'to see'. Idol worship, he said, was 'a vision which becomes a fixation, an obsession'.

He warned against the power of advertising, saying it turns a car or a smartphone into 'a way to respond to my existential needs' and to be happy.

He continued: 'In ancient times human sacrifices were made to idols, but even today people sacrifice their children for their careers, neglecting them or simply refusing to have them.'

Idols, he said, require blood.'Money robs us of life, and pleasure leads to loneliness. Economic structures sacrifice human lives for better profits. One lives in hypocrisy, doing and saying what others expect of us, because the god of self-affirmation imposes it. And lives are ruined; families are destroyed; and young people are abandoned to destructive habits, all to increase profit.'

God, he concluded, 'never requires life but gives it. The true God doesn't offer a projection of our success, but teaches us to love.'

News
Calls for urgent policy reforms to address widening marriage gap between rich and poor
Calls for urgent policy reforms to address widening marriage gap between rich and poor

A new report released by the Marriage Foundation has called for urgent policy changes by the government to address what it describes as a "calamitous" marriage gap of 51 per cent between wealthy and low-income couples.

Bear Grylls talks about faith in spite of doubts at Flame 2025
Bear Grylls talks about faith in spite of doubts at Flame 2025

Grylls described faith as an adventure and a journey.

Bible sales surge by 87% as Generation Z rediscovers faith
Bible sales surge by 87% as Generation Z rediscovers faith

Bible sales in the UK have risen sharply, increasing by 87 per cent from £2.69 million in 2019 to £5.02 million in 2024, according to new data from SPCK Group and Nielsen Book Data.

Lent and Ramadan have sparked complaints over the ‘woke’ storyline in BBC Radio drama The Archers
Lent and Ramadan have sparked complaints over the ‘woke’ storyline in BBC Radio drama The Archers

BBC Radio 4’s long-running rural drama The Archers has come under fire for its recent exploration of Ramadan, with many listeners criticising the decision to feature a Christian character, Lynda Snell, fasting in the run-up to Lent.