Hedonism and agnosticism leaving youth morally and spiritually ill-equipped, says Spanish cardinal

Madrid, Spain, Jan 26, 2007 / 09:25 am

During a ceremony for the re-opening of the Cathedral of Getafe outside Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela said the hedonistic, agnostic, and carefree message that young people are bombarded with today “is what leaves them morally and spiritually ill-equipped for the challenge of responsibly planning their future.”

In his homily the cardinal stressed that the evidence of such a phenomenon lies in the “disconcerting acts of violence in which young people take a lead role.”  He said the passing on of the faith from one generation to the next is a task “that is especially urgent today given the dramatic and progressive de-Christianization of our people, which jeopardizes the survival of the faith and of the Christian life.”

“Is this not the sad spectacle of many Christians,” the cardinal asked, “whose lives are obstreperously destroyed by the attacks of those who, from a materialistic and secularist vision of life, seek to make us live as if God did not exist and to build our society outside the law of God that is written in the heart of man?  Does not Pope Benedict XVI constantly remind us that we should act in response to the danger of considering the faith as a merely private matter of individuals?”

In response to this challenge facing young people, Cardinal Rouco encouraged them to actively participate in the “Youth Mission” which is being implemented in the three dioceses in the area of Madrid.

In proclaiming the Gospel and building a civilization according to the plan of God, Christians must overcome obstacles and adopt “an attitude of apostolic strength in order not to be discouraged by the powers of this world and instead trust in the power of the Gospel and in the ‘help of the Holy Spirit who abides in us’,” the cardinal said.