Ecce Fides - Pillar of Truth - St. Patrick's Basilica

meeting between one faith and the many cultures is fundamentally at the service of this new Christian
humanism, which is why “the split between the Gospel and culture is the drama of our times” as Pope Paul
VI stated in the Apostolic Exhortation, Evagnelii Nuntiandi 1975. Pope John Paul II also describes how
“the future of man depends on culture,” which is not a mere neutral context, but the battleground for the
new evangelization. He set out our task thus: “In fact, we have to reach out to people where they are, with
their worries and questions, to help them find the moral and spiritual landmarks they need to live lives
worthy of our specific vocation, and to find in Christ’s call the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom. 5:5),
as we follow the method used by the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:22-34)” (Discourse
on the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, 16 March 2002).
In Europe we have noticed a resurgence in interest in religious matters in the public sphere, but
sadly it has coincided with a spread of religious ignorance. This has led to a new thirst that is more
spiritual than religious, by which I mean that people are seeking something beyond materialism, but
without engaging with the reality of the Church, ecclesiastical traditions, and the historical events to which
She witnesses, the very ways God has chosen to reveal Himself and transform us. This is also a time in
which sociologists speak of a disaffection with institutions and the phenomenon of believing without
belonging, the sort of insipid relativist belief that shirks the challenge of objective truth (see my work,
Where is your God? Chicago 2004). I note too how many western cultures are invaded by consumerism
and individualism, trends that through globalization are spreading throughout the world. So it is important
that as Church, a family, sustaining each other, and, in particular, praying for each other as the Association
Shepherds of Christ does, that we return to the source of life, our faith, which is usefully exposed in this
volume, and take it out to our contemporaries, evangelizing them and their cultures and inculturating the
Gospel, with the humility to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who is the principle agent of the new
evangelization. Let all who thirst come to the water and find a water that is thus truly satisfying!
Paul Cardinal Poupard
President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
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