Argentinean archbishop calls on Christians to avoid “new reading” of the Gospel

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 25, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Archbishop Domingo Castagna of Corrientes, Argentina, is calling on Argentineans to avoid falling into a “new reading of the Gospel,” popular today among those who seek to separate “their unchristian behavior” from “the Christian faith they claim to profess.”

“Modern thinking does not always coincide with the Gospels,” the archbishop explained, noting that today’s society often promotes ideas that are “opposed to Christian values.” He lamented the fact that even believers are being influenced by this “new reading of the Gospel.”

Archbishop Castagna also denounced arguments supposedly based on the essential content of the faith, which he said are “more emotional than rational,” that support “unacceptable theories” such as abortion, tubal ligation and vasectomies.

He also pointed to the existence of “other contradictions, such as ideological persecution, discrimination on the basis of sex, race and creed, and calumny as a way of eliminating one’s adversaries.”  Archbishop Castagna recalled that “Christ is demanding” and that “the precept of love should be practiced even with enemies and persecutors.”  At the same time, he noted the responsibility of Christians to make the Kingdom of God present.  This, he explained, “is the new society that we are called to carefully build.”