Argentinean archbishop calls exclusion of God from public arena an impediment to progress

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 10, 2006 / 22:00 pm

As Argentineans celebrated the country’s Independence Day on July 9, Archbishop Domingo Castagna of Corrientes called on Argentineans to thank God for, “the gift of a free country” and warned that to obstinately deny God is to close, “the doors to progress and to the encounter with the truth.”

“Without God the universe has no meaning.  To suppose that everything is due to chance constitutes a true intellectual contradiction.  Faith assures us that God is the meaning of all things and, obviously, of man and his history.  When He is excluded through obstinate and thoughtless denial, the result is an existential pessimism that closes the doors to progress and to the encounter with the truth,” the archbishop said during an Independence Day Mass.

“From our Christian origins we have received the conviction that God has shown Himself in Christ,” Archbishop Castagna continued, emphasizing that in order to bring about a civilization of love and solidarity in Argentina, “we must exclude from our hearts all hatred, which dangerously ensnares us in revengeful attitudes and prevents us from moving towards the authentic justice that restores the common good and true peace.”

The archbishop also praised those who embrace self-denial and a spirit of patriotism and said, “Undoubtedly the country is born of men and women who love our nation to the point of renouncing their own personal interests.”  He exhorted Argentineans to preserve the “moral and spiritual quality” of their founding fathers in order to maintain peace and stability in the country.