Oct. 06 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI warned theologians against serving "the dictatorship of common opinion," as he celebrated Mass on October 6 with the members of the International Theological Commission.
 
 The International Theological Commission had been meeting in Rome this week to discuss the fate of children who die unbaptized, with widespread reports indicating that the group would recommend a move away from the concept of Limbo. Pope Benedict XVI did not mention that topic in his homily during the Mass that closed the Commission's week-long meeting.
 
 However the Pontiff did warn strongly against the temptation for theologians to "speak to elicit applause," and to be guided by "what men want to hear."
 
  That approach, he said, is "a kind of prostitution." The proper approach to theology, the Holy Father continued, is one of "harsh discipline in obedience to the truth."
 Pope Benedict called the theologians' attention to the example set by St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order, whose feast the Church was celebrating.
 
  While a theologian cannot imitate St. Bruno's commitment to silence, since the theologian's task is to speak about God to the contemporary world, still any scholar should recognize the value of "silence and contemplation," the Pope said, since those habits "enable us to enter into God's silence and thus reach the point where the Word is born."
 
 "God is not the object," the Pope reminded the group; "God is the subject of theology." He urged the scholars to follow the "path of purification," seeking to become "only instruments through which God may speak."