Catholic manifesto calls on faithful to act coherently in the face of societal crisis

Madrid, Spain, Sep 19, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Congress of Catholics and Public Life, which is scheduled to celebrate 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.”

Organized by Spain’s Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP, by its Spanish acronym), a manifesto has been issued for the Congress titled “Quo Vadis? Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty.”

The manifesto points out 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 contrast, 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 at the vanguard of the main debate on the future of our societies.”

Demoralization in the face of imposed social disorder

In the manifesto, the ACdP recognizes 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.” The danger of this despondency, the manifesto warns, is that “it drags us toward a fierce individualism.”

Against this background, the manifesto issued in advance of the XXVI Congress of Catholics and Public Life, to be held from Nov. 15–17 in Madrid, holds that both those who consider that all Catholics think the same on political issues are wrong “as well as those who conclude that we have no 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 and 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 underscores.

Finally, it is emphasized that the transformation of “generally silent and irrelevant” social Catholicism into “a creative minority” constitutes “an unavoidable challenge” for 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.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.