Cardinal Sarah says US can be ‘place of spiritual renewal,’ urges Catholics to reject ‘practical atheism’ – CatholicVote org

CV NEWS FEED // The United States can be a place of spiritual renewal and growth for the Catholic Church, according to Cardinal Robert Sarah, archbishop emeritus of Conakry, Guinea.

He made his remarks at a talk titled The Catholic Churchs Enduring Answer to the Practical Atheism of Our Age in Washington, D.C. on June 13. The California-based Napa Institute and the D.C.-located Catholic Information Center co-sponsored the sold-out talk at the Catholic University of America, which provided the venue.

Cardinal Sarah, prefect emeritus of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said that in his visits to the U.S., he has found it a place of great importance for the Universal Church. However, he noted, institutions, hospitals, and universities in the country are often Catholic in name only.

He also said the U.S. President, who self-identifies as Catholic, is an example of what Cardinal [Wilton] Gregory recently described as Cafeteria Catholic.

Still, even though the Church community in the US has been lost at the macro level, Cardinal Sarah said, there is much to celebrate about [the Catholic community here in] the United States.

The Catholic Church of the United States is very different from the Church in Europe, he continued. The faith in Europe is dying, and in some place[s], is dead.

He said that many prelates, who are bishops or cardinals, in the West are paralyzed by the idea of opposing the world. They dream of being loved by the world. They have lost the concern of being a sign of a contradiction.

Cardinal Sarah posited that this compromise may be due to material wealth. Poverty, he said, allows for true freedom.

The modern Church, he said, is tempted by practical atheism, which he defined as a loss of the sense of the Gospel, and the centrality of Jesus Christ. Scripture becomes a tool for secular purpose, rather than the call to conversion.

Though practical atheism is a problem that is growing in the other regions of the West, Cardinal Sarah said, I do not think this is widespread among your bishops and priests here in the United States, thanks be to God.

Cardinal Sarah also said that there is a danger that practical atheism poses when applied to moral theology.

How often do we hear from theologians, priests, religious, and even some bishops, or bishops conferences, that we need to adjust our moral theology for considerations that are only human? he asked.

There is an attempt to ignore, if not reject, the traditional approach to moral theology, he continued, saying that official Church documents have defined moral theology very well. If we do, everything becomes conditional and subjective; welcoming everyone means ignoring scripture, tradition, and the Magisterium.

None of the proponents of [this] reject God outright, he continued, but they treat revelation as secondary, or, at least, on equal footing with experiences and modern science. This is how practical atheism works: it does not deny God, but functions as if God is not central.

Cardinal Sarah also warned against divorcing faith from tradition.

According to practical atheism, tradition is not freeing, he said. And yet, it is through our tradition that we more truly know ourselves. We are not isolated beings, unconnected to our past. Our past is what shapes who we are today.

He emphasized that Salvation history is the chief example of this, saying that the faith always echoes back to Adam and Eve, the Old Testament, and ultimately to Jesus Christ, and the Church that Jesus founded.

This is who we are as a Christian people, Cardinal Sarah said, later adding that Christians are people who live within the context of what God created us to be, which has been perceived more deeply over the centuries, but is always connected to the revelation of Christ, who is the same yesterday and today.

Cardinal Sarah also said that the criticism that practical atheism exists in the Church today is not new, and that in 1958, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger criticized European Christians for embracing paganism.

However, what Ratzinger wrote of in 1958 is more apparent now, Cardinal Sarah said, warning against where there is lack of faith within the Church.

Speaking about the Synod on Synodality, Cardinal Sarah continued, There are voices at the synod that are not speaking within the sensus fidei, or the sense of the faith.

Just because someone identifies as Catholic does not mean they are Catholic or have the sensus fidelium, he said, later adding, And it is a great danger to consider all voices legitimate.

He warned against replacing faith with opinion, and said that attempts to change doctrine cause instability within the Church. He pointed out that Synod Prelate General Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has expressed openness to the possibility of ordaining women priests, which is contrary to doctrine.

Rejecting doctrine implies that faith is something that can be defined by human beings, rather than by God, Cardinal Sarah said: This is not Catholic, and it is a source of great confusion that is harming the Church and the faithful.

Thankfully, Pope Francis has been clear that this is not possible, to ordain priests women, he said. But confusion grows around these questions when the global Synod encourages such considerations. The example of Germany is well-known, but important to remember.

As he concluded, Cardinal Sarah said that the United States is not like Europe.

The faith here is still young and maturing, he continued. This young vitality is a gift to the Church. Just as we saw the African Church, which is also young, provide heroic witness to the faith in the wake of that misguided document, Fiducia Supplicans, and saved the Church from grave error, the Church here in the United States can also be a witness to the rest of the world.

The cultural atheism that has taken over the West does not have to take over this Church here in the United States, he said. You have good episcopal leadership, good, young priests, communities with young, vibrant Catholic families.You must foster the growth of all of this for the sake of your families, but also for the sake of the global Church.

Cardinal Sarah said that both Napa Institue and the Catholic Information Center should be commended for their work, which is vital for the mission of fostering the growth of the Church in the U.S.

America is big and powerful, politically, economically, and culturally, he continued. With this comes great responsibility. Imagine what could happen if America were to become home to even more vibrant Catholic communities? The faith of Europe is dying, or dead. The Church needs to draw life from places like Africa and America, where faith is not dead.

Perhaps it is surprising to some that the United States can be a place of spiritual renewal, but I believe it to be so, Cardinal Sarah said. If Catholics in this country can be a sign of contradiction to your culture, the Holy Spirit will do great things through you.

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Cardinal Sarah says US can be 'place of spiritual renewal,' urges Catholics to reject 'practical atheism' - CatholicVote org