Abandonment of God Leads to Self-destruction: Spanish Cardinal

August 09, 2011: The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Antonio Canizares, warned of the danger of turning from God. “The main problem facing Europe is not economic, as serious as that is, but rather the abandonment of God which leads to self-destruction.”
He was speaking at a summer course sponsored by St. Vincent the Martyr University in Valencia, Spain on the present and future of Europe. During his speech titled, “Christians in Democracy”, he underscored the responsibility Christians have to engage in “a new evangelization,”. This he said is “the best service we can offer for our society to change and overcome this crisis.”
The present-day situation, the cardinal added, is “not merely a structural or economic crisis, but rather a crisis of mankind, a breakdown of humanity, a moral breakdown, spending beyond our limits and pursuing enjoyment at all costs, pleasure for pleasure’s sake, even if that means destroying someone else.
Cardinal Canizares defended the “identity” of Europe,” whose foundations “were Greek philosophy, Roman law and the Christian faith. “Without the human person no society has a future, without the dignity of the human person, no order has a future,” the cardinal said.
About the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Spain for World Youth Day, he said “The Holy Father bringing together more than a million young people from all over the world is an event of great hope.” “The Holy Father comes to give Jesus Christ to young people and to tell them to rise up and walk, to begin to overcome the profound crisis that is knocking them down.” “The Pope is coming to tell them that they can change things and that they can have better future if they open themselves to what Jesus Christ means, because he means truth, love, respect for others, the common good, not being afraid and being free,” the cardinal said.