My sad compatriot Ratzi Benedict is doing his best to herd us all back into the Middle Ages "at a higher technological level", if you'll pardon my paraphrasing Horkheimer. The man is a danger to the spirit of humanity, he's not alone, granted, and of course his army of lackeys at the Big V are all shifting into the same gear, probably taking a hint from the "Mitläufer" of Ratzi's generation of lukewarm Nazi wannabe's.
These are disgusting times, one can't help but wonder but how far we shall have peddled backwards before we hand this over-heated, under-nourished and spiritually attritioned planet over to our children.
Not only from a purely statistical point of view, one, maybe two "Christian" monuments in the top Seven Wonders of the World would seem to be plenty, considering the hitherto benignly neglected wealth of other cultures.

Vladimir Klein, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

The criteria of number of visitors in a year will lead to such new lists. The architectural excellence,aesthetics should be the only criteria to select seven wonders.

kk ghei, delhi, india

One inexplicable, unforgivable omission: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

SanYing, Westmount, QC, Canada

I am an atheist, but I still find the great Mediaeval cathedrals of Britain and France to be an awe-inspiring testament to faith.

Jeremy in Oz, perth, Australia

I read lately that wheelchair users cannot go on cruises.
One in question was stated that they would have to stay in their cabin all the time and cruise line had no facilites to help them go ashore in ports. Any info would help?

CJField, Darlington,

Steady on Mr Constantino. I doubt anyone in the UK actually cares, but if we did then at least we've got one or two things we could vote for.....

al , london,

"You might not like it, or agree , but the what comes from the Vatican is important to millions of people throughout the world."
maybe he should have told them all how to vote then.
Us heathens voted for what we wanted .

keith, bridgend, wales uk

"You can always trust religionists to bleat and whine. But they're always good for a laugh. Where would we be without them?"
BINGO!!!!! XACTLY!!!!

shahid, ASSAM, INDIA

The so called New Seven Wonders were elected by a private entity that alledgedly based their selection on telephone and internet votes. The shortlist was no doubt based on interest from tourism sponsors and TV companies, rather than historical or artistic merit, or how else would the ghastly Cristo Redendor in Rio get elected rather than... well anything.

But getting indignant about the choices is playing into the promotors hands; Just as nobody was obliged to vote, nobody is obliged to care either. And people are only indignant in the UK because they could not elect that pathetic pile of rocks on Salisbury Plain.

The only thing that people can really object to is the disgradeful involvment of elected government officials and representatives of NGO's in a private commercial venture.

Tony Constantino, Porto, Portugal

Typical ethnocentric view of the World which purposely disregards the achievements of European Civilisation.
I suppose they HAD to choose one monument from a Muslim country - problem is that the only one they could find (Petra) is Roman/Christian in architecture.

Basil, Constantinople,

The pope and his cronies are turning to almost cartoonish paranoia to try and prove they are victims of anti-religious persecution. Can't people disagree with them without being called biased? This shifty-eyed, whinging daftness does nothing for my impression of modern Christianity.

Alice, Wigan, UK

I certainly think that the Sacrada familia church in Barcelona should definitely be on the list. Its unusual architecture, the architect's outside the box vision and its uniqueness should be celebrated and acknowledged.

Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see it completed.

Regina E. Gardzinski, Toronto, Canada

I am a practicing RC, and there is not one thing the Catholic Church has built that is wonderous except the closley guarded secret to its amassed fortunes and wealth the conquistadors provided it with.

Vic LaDagano, Boynton Beach, Florida/USA

You might not like it, or agree , but the what comes from the Vatican is important to millions of people throughout the world.

Elizabeth Bennett, Fair Oaks, CA USA

There are more impressive sights in the cathedral at Florence than you will run into at the Vatican.

That aside, I can't believe 70m people have voted for this; quite ridiculous really. Are none of these places world heritage sites already? And who among us is seriously going to adopt a 'new' seven wonders of the world that has been privately established via a big marketing campaign?

Adam Neilson, Birmingham,

I see the election of the former head of the inquisition (sorry - the title's changed since then, hasn't it) to the vatican's top job has revived the age-old paranoia caused by teaching the alphabet to the masses.

Maybe they should learn that "wonder of the world" doesn't equate to "wonder of the vatican's art collection" in any language other than medieval latin.

KR, Stockport,

You cant say that only monuments wih the highest annual visitors makes it to the list. And be fair to the Third World, which is know to far excel the West as far as architectural acuity is concerned.

Subhashish Bhadra, New Delhi, India

The only christian wonder, as far as I am concerned, is how people continually have been cajoled, pressured and conned into believing a myth from 2,000 years ago. When will the human race finally wake up to the truth that all religion is perverse, hypocritical and evil. I like the cathedrals that the Catholics built from the money extorted from their unfortunate parishoners, but look back all-through-out history to understand that religion has been the underlying cause of so much death, misery and despondency. I'm glad that religious sites hardly feature in the internet poll candidate list. Yes, I do know that the Acropolis was a temple of worship and offering, etc. but the Greeks haven't been to war with anyone for centuries, so no worries there.

Jeremy Cox (Proud expat Englishman), St. Louis, Missouri/USA

I think the pope should be on the list. How anyone in this day and age could think his opinion important is a wonder to me!

Colin, Cheshire,

Well, i thought this is all about choosing new seven wonders not about proving that Christianity is the predominant religion of world...
this comment of Vatican really hurts the sentiments of people following other religions because there are many non Christian buildings too which are very importantly a part of our worlds cultural heritage...even they need to be recognized and praised by people.

Tanya Gupta, Indore, India

You can always trust religionists to bleat and whine. But they're always good for a laugh. Where would we be without them?

Andrew Armitage, West Wales, UK

I don't find what you have to say, funny.

Rodrigo Velasquez, Madrid, Spain

Isn't the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (er, Istanbul) a Christian monument? Or doesn't that count because either it is a non-Roman church, or was co-opted by the Muslims for a few centuries? St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow? Sounds Christian to me. I suspect the Vatican is just upset that St Peter's is not in the running.

Ben Hoff, NJ, USA

What a harm can Mayan ancient city's ruins do to the Christianity? And if they would, could they rival with avidious. lying and hypocritious "holy farthers" in that? Frescoes and statues, beautiful or popular as they may be, cannnot create or ruin the faith. It's the church job.

Ann, Rostov, Russian Federation

I think in the best Interest of Vatican, the ArchBishop should not stoopdown to this lowlevel -trying to defend the Christian Monuments. As a leader of a Great Community, he should have a more generous view - if not respect, for anything good under the Sun.
There is no reason to worry if Michelangelo’s frescoes / Taj Mahal / Petra.... is not in the final list.. The world knows their Worth....

Srinath, Bangalore, India

The Catholic Church should rejoice, all of the wonders of the world are a result of Gods creation. Or am I missing the point?

Kevin Sullivan, London, UK

It's illustrative of the times that a contest to winnow out a list of a new seven wonders of the world turns into a combination of political infighting and local tourism board boosterism....

Steve, cascades,

There clearly is an anti-Christian bias because there is mismatch between the nominations here and the actual numbers of visitors at the sites.

quad erat demonstrandum, snides.

Jack Mc D., San Francisco, USA

I believe that Vatican is parcially right, but not completely, because Chist Redeemer is representing a Christian monument. People normaly refer to Christ Redeemer as something sacred. We, brazilians, believe that Christ is always blessing our contry, specially the Rio de Janeiro city.

Sérgio Roberto Batista, Jaguariaíva, Brazil

You can always trust religionists to bleat and whine. But they're always good for a laugh. Where would we be without them?

Andrew Armitage, West Wales, UK

I certainly think that the Sacrada familia church in Barcelona should definitely be on the list. Its unusual architecture, the architect's outside the box vision and its uniqueness should be celebrated and acknowledged.

Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see it completed.

Regina E. Gardzinski, Toronto, Canada

What is it with Stonehenge? So they, whoever they were, at some time but we don't know when,managed to drag a few big stones from somewhere and put them on top of each for some reason that we can't figure but every loony on the planet has a view about. Big deal. Even the Millenium Dome required some skill other than brute force to put up. Drop Stonehenge - it's ugly, pointless and attracts madmen with beards and white gowns talking fake mysticism that they got from Lord of the Rings. Dismantle it and use the stone for garden ornaments.

eric, harrogate, uk

Who needs bias when the Vatican these days seems so grimly determined to discredit itself by behaving like a surly guest on Jerry Springer at every available opportunity? I'm sure this attitude goes against every reported saying of their patron....

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

The Vatican should rejoyced, Catholic monuments weren't forgotten by the portuguese paper that's choosing the "7 portuguese horrors". Even the replica of Rio's Jesus that is in Lisbon is nominated.. LOL

João Santos, Lisbon, Portugal