Indonesian Cardinal Darmaatmadja: “Fighting the evil influence of money in society”

29 Aug.2006): -“Money and the desperate quest for it, deeply affect every aspect of human life, mostly on a daily basis , and people should be aware of the prevalence of this dangerous trend that has also taken root among Indonesian Catholics.” With these words, Jesuit Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, the archbishop of Jakarta, opened his address on Monday, Aug. 28, to hundreds of believers gathered in Denpasar, Bali, for a pastoral meeting. The cardinal said: “Indonesians, even Catholics, are easily influenced by money, position and social status. And this leads people to believe in values that are not based on our moral or cultural attitudes.” The Cardinal, who is president of the National Bishops’ Conference, said, “This moral decadence is a very serious problem that we must face daily. My question is: Do we still have moral values or not? Are we a civilized people or not?” The Cardinal said that the Indonesian people have good basics that should be fundamental principles for their life. The cardinal highlighted his concern for what he saw as a widespread lack of compassion. “We are becoming ever more selfish and materialistic attitudes are in evidence everywhere. People are every more ready to hurt one another, to have more social standing, or to get ahead in their career.In this perspective, there is an urgent need for a new approach to the whole matter,” said the Cardinal and called on Catholics to re-launch sound ethical ways of acting.