Refrain from sinning, be good: Pope

Vatican City – Speaking on the occasion of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Benedict XVI has urged the Roman Catholics to refrain from sinning and reject the idea that being good was “boring.”

"The suspicion emerges in us that a person who does not sin is, after all, boring; that something is missing from his life: the dramatic dimension of being free," he said. "We think that bargaining with evil, reserving ourselves a little freedom against God, is, after all, good or even necessary. But looking at the world around us we can see that this is not so."

Since his election last April, the Pope's homilies have been mostly spiritual and religious in nature, largely steering clear of political controversy.

The Pope, who was the Vatican's doctrinal chief for nearly 25 years before he became Pope, has been using his new position to remind Catholics of the basic tenets of their faith.

The Immaculate Conception refers to the Roman Catholic Church's infallible doctrine, proclaimed in 1854, that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without the stain of Original Sin.