Catholic manifesto asks the faithful for cohesion in the face of the crisis of a society without God

The Congress of Catholics and Public Life, which celebrates its XXVI edition in Madrid in November, calls on Catholics to act coherently to offer solid foundations to a society in crisis that lives “as if God did not exist.”

This is clear from the manifesto of this event titled What Vadis? Think and act in times of uncertaintyrecently presented, and which constitutes a novelty compared to previous years, since its writing used to take place at the conclusion of the Congress organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP).

The text specifies that “the greater the loss of permanent references, the more political and social disorder there is” and refers both to “the concealment of everything that expresses the transcendence of the human being” and to the construction of a society that lives “as if God did not exist.”

In parallel, Catholics are encouraged to make “a redoubled effort in defending their foundations” against moral relativism, in an attitude that “is not an exercise in fundamentalism, but, on the contrary, means being the vanguard of main debate of the future of our societies”.

Demoralization in the face of imposed social disorder

Through the manifesto, the ACdP confirms that there is “a feeling of demoralization” in the face of “the systematic imposition of a new society, of a social disorder that has never been explained or voted on,” but rather silenced. The danger of this despondency, they warn, is that “it drags us toward a fierce individualism.”

On the other hand, it is pointed out that it is paradoxical that relativism coexists with “extremism in the political sphere”, since if the first is “the cause of permanent references”, the second “is not the solution to a society that needs cohesion and fundamentals.”

“If the crisis is fundamental, the true solution will be in strengthening them, not in the search for the extreme, much less in the insistence on relativism,” they add.

Role of Catholics in society

Against this background, the manifesto of the XXVI Congress of Catholics and Public Life, which will be held from November 15 to 17 in Madrid, denounces that both those who consider that all Catholics think the same on political issues are wrong, “and conclude that we do not have any cohesion.” in the public sphere, which is why we should refrain from taking any social and political position.”

For the ACdP, Catholic commitment in the field of politics, defined by Christian social doctrine as the highest form of charity, must involve “enunciating and articulating a strategy” that helps to become aware “of the seriousness of the situation.” , aware of the extent to which the humanistic foundations of our civilization are being attacked at their roots.”

“The role of Spanish and European Catholics in this area is essential and decisive. If we don’t promote it, no one will,” the text then underlines.

Finally, it is emphasized that the transformation of “generally silent and irrelevant” social Catholicism into “a creative minority” constitutes “an unavoidable challenge” of the ACdP and a task that must join “other Catholic groups and movements that feel the urgency of the historical moment in which we find ourselves.”