With a hat tip to the Catholic Culture blog, in this speech to Brazilian Bishops—but as, if not more, relevant to Americans—the Holy Father comments on the aspect of modern life wherein Catholics begin to secularize themselves, a destructive trend that has been chronicled in our country through the works of several authors (one recent example I am reading is documented in the self-secularization of Catholic universities, in the book by Anne Hendershott, Status Envy: The Politics of Catholic Higher Education) and can be seen in the confusion over elemental protection of life issues of the faith where we see Catholics support abortion and oppose capital punishment, rejecting the traditional support of the Church on both counts.
The traditional support of the Catholic Church for capital punishment, in light of some national bishop’s conferences—including the United States—calling for its abolition, is the subject of my new book: Capital Punishment and Catholic Social Teaching: A Tradition of Support.
An excerpt from the pope’s remarks from the Vatican News Service.
“Benedict XVI also told the bishops that in modern society, in which "so many people seem to want to live everything in a single minute, while others give themselves up to boredom, inertia, or various forms of violence", in reality "these desperate lives are seeking hope, a fact evinced by the widespread and at times confused need for spirituality, and the renewed search for points of reference to resume the journey of like".
“In the decades following Vatican Council II "many Christian communities sank into self-secularisation. ... At the present time there is a new generation born into this secularised ecclesial environment which, instead of demonstrating openness and consent, sees in society an ever-deepening gulf of differences and contrasts to the Magisterium of the Church, especially in the field of ethics. In this godless desert, the new generation thirsts for transcendence".
“Modern youth "needs formators who are true men of God, priests completely dedicated to formation who bear witness of the gift of self to the Church through celibacy and an austere life, according to the model of Christ the Good Shepherd. In this way the young will learn to be open to the meeting with the Lord, though daily participation in the Eucharist. They will love silence and prayer and seek primarily the glory of God and the salvation of souls".
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.