Posted on 04/19/2005 11:56:55 AM PDT by MadIvan
Cardinal Ratzinger on the Banishment of God From Public Life
Receives St. Benedict Award for Promotion of Life and Family
SUBIACO, Italy, APRIL 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger says that believers are faced with the tendency to banish God from public life and confine him to the "subjective realm of past residual cultures."
On April 1, when receiving the St. Benedict Award for the Promotion of Life and the Family in Europe, conferred by the Subiaco Foundation for Life and the Family, the dean of the College of Cardinals delivered an address on the present crisis of culture and identity, especially in the Old World.
After stating that "moral force has not grown apace with the development of science but, on the contrary, has diminished," Cardinal Ratzinger explained that "the most serious danger at this time is precisely the imbalance between technical possibilities and moral energy."
He gave two examples: the threat of terrorism and the possibility to manipulate the origin of human life.
The then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—almost all heads of Vatican dicasteries lost their posts when John Paul II died— pointed out that "Europe has developed a culture that, in a way previously unknown to humanity, excludes God from the public consciousness, either by denying him altogether or by judging that his existence cannot be demonstrated, is uncertain and, therefore, somewhat irrelevant to public life."
An attempt is being made "to build the human community absolutely without God," the cardinal stressed.
"The rejection of reference to God is not an expression of tolerance which wishes to protect non-theist religions and the dignity of atheists and agnostics, but rather an expression of the desire to see God banished definitively from humanity's public life, and driven into the subjective realm of residual cultures of the past," he warned.
For the cardinal, the starting point of this view is "relativism," which has become "a dogmatism that believes it is in possession of the definitive knowledge of reason, and with the right to regard all the rest as a stage of humanity, which has basically been surpassed, and which can be suitably relativized."
At this rate, Cardinal Ratzinger added, we will no longer "be able to affirm that homosexuality, as the Catholic Church teaches, is an objective disorder of the structure of human existence."
"The fact that the Church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination on women, is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution," he added.
In the final part of his address, Cardinal Ratzinger explained that "we need roots to survive and we must not lose them from sight if we do not want human dignity to disappear."
"Only creative reason, which has been manifested in the crucified God as love, can really show us the way," he said. "We need men who will keep their sight on God, learning there" what "true humanity" is, as "only through men touched by God, can God again be close to men." ZE05041102
I did mention that that Pope John Paul the Great's visit to Giants Stadium nearly turned me into a fair weather Catholic on the NJ board! :-)
Well, there are three persons in the Holy Trinity and two of them are spirits. The spirits win 2-1! ;-)
They already are. Catholic or not, we have to really pray for this guy.
I read some of that yesterday. Looks like we're closing in on the Second Coming.
Wouldn't it be a riot if Benedict XVI offered a Traditional Mass for his first Mass this Sunday?
People would come unglued. (fwiw,I sensed his Latin Novus Ordo for the Pope's funeral sent a subtle message).
Although NO myself, I'm glad to hear that. I pray he starts by reinstituting the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel after Masses. I don't believe that prayer can be said too often.
Because Pope Benedict XVI is 78 years old, don't you think the liberal CINO's would try to wait it out to continue their crusade for destruction from within?
The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue, verses 1-3
The significance is clear to see.
WWI was not a matter of Good vs. Evil. It was a nonideological war and both sides were exhausting each other to the point that they couldn't continue and a negotiated settlement was inevitable had we stayed out. It's unfair ending set the stage for Hitler and Stalin. What a triumph.
I missed that. When and where did that happen?
bump
I was watching ABC news commentary at the time they were waiting for the Pope to appear. Fr. Richard McBrien was filling time and expounding what it would mean if the new Pope chose the name Benedict XVI.
He was saying how Benedict XV was known for an encyclical about bringing all factions of the Church together, specifically, conservatives, traditionalists, liberals, and progressives.
Our new Pope undoubtedly gave this name much thought beforehand, and will be a uniter.
BTW, McBrien was flabbergasted when he discovered Ratzinger ad been chosen, and again when he found out he had taken the name Benedict. He called it all "very controversial" which is lib speak for how could they elect this jerk.
God Bless and keep safe His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
God bless the new Pope. He is a good and learned man. I think he has the mental rigor, the self-discipline, and the spiritual guidance to fight the continuing tide of Modernism.
I don't know. With modern medicine and Ratzinger's seeming good health he could live a good 15 years or so.
The AmChurch libs are getting old. This is their last hurrah. The danger is they control church property in America. A schism could leave conservatives without churches in most places.
You have to take into account the bishops who would remain loyal to Rome. In California I would guess two: Weigand and Vigneron. Vigneron is a conservative in liberal hell. He already has no control in his diocese. Outside CA you have Chaput, Burke, Bruskewitz, Dolan, the one in Arizona and probably a few others who would remain loyal to Rome. They aren't the majority by any means.
Some people are already coming unglued ... I have highly reliable reports of leftist nuns reacting to Pope Benedict XVI's election by slamming their office doors and having the crying fit to end all crying fits.
Der Panzerpapst is already changing the ecclesiastical landscape.
"Wouldn't it be a riot if Benedict XVI offered a Traditional Mass for his first Mass this Sunday?"
Yup - I would be so happy that I'd p@@s myself!!! Probably not too likely though. He has very strong opinions about returning to ad orientem celebration of Mass, so maybe we will see incremental moves towards Tradition.
"(fwiw,I sensed his Latin Novus Ordo for the Pope's funeral sent a subtle message)."
Yes - I got the distinct impression that Marini had been elbowed out of the way! Also did you notice how at the pre-conclave Mass, the other Cardinals did not concelebrate, but sat "in choir"?
I am experiencing papal schadenfreude. Or is that schadenpapal
I know I'm not supposed to laugh, but I'm laughing.
This should shake up the EU, or is that wake up the EU, to who the real master of the universe is ?
>> A schism could leave conservatives without churches in most places. <<
That's a maybe.
Let the other religions who are close to us, i.e. the Anglicans, continue to drift left and we tighten up our conservative ways and we might find that whole churches coming to us.
Or maybe I'm dreaming.
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