Sign O' The Times?

Yesterday, the Vatican released a document called "Guidelines for Pastoral Care of the Road." Here are the "Driver's 10 Commandments":

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

It also discussed a reality that driving could "bring out 'primitive' behavior in motorists, including 'impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code.'"

The official document included some do's and dont's, such as saying that "charity" would call for "allowing someone who wishes to drive faster to pass." "Prudence" forbids the use of cellphones behind the wheel. "Justice" means following the driver's code.

Now, don't get me wrong...

...this is wise stuff. We'd all be better off if we chose to protect the more vulnerable party.

But one would think the Vatican would have a bit more to be concerned about these days, what with Darfur and Sierra Leone and the Middle East and Iraq/Iran and North Korea and all that.