European bishops discuss continent’s secularization

October 10, 2013: The heads of bishops’ conferences of 33 European nations met in Slovakia from October 3 to 6 to discuss the continent’s secularization.

The discussion of secularization, according to a communiqué from the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe, was led by three academics and Cardinal Dominik Duka of Prague.

“Cardinal Duka underlined how important it is for the Church to participate in the public debate, not to defend privileges or its niche within society, but for the common good of Europe,” the communiqué stated. “Although the world is secularized these days, this does not mean that the Church does not have a space where it can express itself. The experience of totalitarian regimes that many European countries suffered drives the faithful not to have a ‘Church of silence’ again.”

“Therefore, for the bishops a healthy secularity guarantees the freedom to announce the Gospel and the social doctrine of the Church, which is the source of that heritage of hope and humanism that is the basis of the fabric of European civilization,” the statement continued.
(source: CWN)