ROME — In a lecture delivered by Pope Benedict XVI on the day before John Paul II passed away, the then Cardinal Ratzinger addressed some of the most fundamental problems facing modernity, and especially the devastating fall-out from the European crisis of faith.
“We are living in a time of great dangers and great opportunities for man and the world,” remarked the then Cardinal, “a time which is also of great responsibility for us all. During the past century Man's possibilities and his dominion over matter grew by truly unthinkable measures. However, his power to dispose of the world has been such as to allow his capacity for destruction to reach dimensions which at times horrify us.”
“Less visible, but no less disquieting,” continued the Cardinal in remarks clearly referring to the rising scourge of cloning, genetic manipulation, and other similarly disturbing 'reproductive technologies' “are the possibilities of self-manipulation that man has acquired. He has plumbed the depths of being, has deciphered the components of the human being, and is now capable, so to speak, of constructing man himself, who thus no longer comes into the world as a gift of the Creator, but as a product of our action, a product that, therefore, can also be selected according to the exigencies established by ourselves.”
Ratzinger discussed the root of these destructive tendencies of modern Man: “All this shows that the growth of our possibilities has not been matched by a comparable development of our moral energy.…The real and gravest danger in these times lies, precisely, in this imbalance between technical possibilities and moral energy.…Whenever the latter is lacking or is insufficient, the power man has will be transformed increasingly into a power of destruction.”
The battleground between this moral energy and the technological advancement of man has in many ways, and especially since the so-called Enlightenment, been centered in Europe, said the Cardinal. As such the great crisis of faith in Europe, effectively witnessed in the recent disassociation of Europe from its Christian roots in the EU Constitution, is deplorable for the effect that it causes throughout the rest of the world.
In his presentation Ratzinger accused Europe of producing and being home to both the best and the worst of Christianity and morality: “If Christianity, on one hand, has found its most effective form in Europe, it is necessary, on the other hand, to say that in Europe a culture has developed that constitutes the absolutely most radical contradiction not only of Christianity, but of the religious and moral traditions of humanity.”
At this crucial stage of European history, Ratzinger urged his European listeners to take seriously their political responsibility to preserve the Godly roots of the continent. “From this emerges…the responsibility that we Europeans must assume at this historical moment — in the debate on the definition of Europe, on its new political shape. It is not a question of a nostalgic rearguard battle of history being played out, but rather a great responsibility for today's humanity.
See also:
Full Text of Cardinal Ratzinger's Speech
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
