'Divine Reason' Behind Humanity, Creation: Pope

There is "divine reason" behind creation and humanity, said Pope Benedict XVI in his Easter Vigil homily yesterday. "Are irrationality, lack of freedom, and pure chance the origin of everything, or are reason, freedom, and love at the origin of being?" he asked. "If man were merely a random product of evolution in some place on the margins of the universe, then his life would make no sense or might even be a chance of nature. But no, reason is there at the beginning: creative, divine reason. "

The 84-year-old Benedict coughed several times and his voice sounded sore, according to the AP report of the three-hour service, the most important liturgy on the Catholic church's calendar. The liturgical service was provided by students from the Legion of Christ, a conservative order being restructured after its was found last year to be embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal. You can check out Benedict's homily in its entirety here. (More Pope Benedict XVI stories.)