"The loss of the meaning of life underlies all the issues we see today that attack this fundamental right," says the director of the Catholics and Public Life Congress, Rafael Sanchez Saus, before the next edition of this meeting that will take place on November 13, 14 and 15.
For more than 20 years, the Catholics and Public Life Congress is one of the most important events of Catholic thought in our country. Many editions have dealt with topics such as religious freedom, the family, Christian political commitment or culture. This year, it is the lifefrom start to finish, which will serve as the axis of the 22nd edition of the meeting, online, and which brings together all the reflections and proposals under the slogan 'Time to defend life!'
As the congress director points out, Rafael Sánchez Saus, a Palabra magazine "This edition does not deal with a specific aspect, such as euthanasia, abortion or maternity, although they will be present. We would like it to be a general, comprehensive reflection on the meaning of life in today's society and why, at the same time, a range of problems and debates can occur that have as their background, in reality, the loss of the meaning of life".
The issue of life was the one chosen in October 2019 by the Catholic Association of Propagandists for its annual work of study, reflection and action. A few months later, in December 2019, with an eye on this congress, it was decided to link the theme of the meeting to this idea. The outbreak of the pandemic, in the first quarter of 2020, only reinforced the idea that it was necessary to "The problem of the loss of the meaning of life and its consequences in today's societies, especially in the West, is a reflection on the problem of the loss of the meaning of life. That sense of life that has been contrasted with the loss of thousands of lives in such a short time, has been a kind of revulsive for society" as Sánchez Saus points out, "without having intended it, we have linked with a reality: life linked to death. Something that has moved us deeply and that should make us think more intensely about what life means in all its aspects"..
The loss of the meaning of life
The idea of global reflection proposed by the congress also aims to make people understand that life-related issues cannot be approached separately when, in the end, everything underlies a great debate, emphasizes historian Rafael Sánchez Saus. "That, at the same time, the very serious demographic crisis has arisen in the West; that at the same time, for decades now, abortion has become an element of daily life and even wants to be sold as a right; that euthanasia is bursting with force in Western societies, that the question of transhumanism is being raised and at the same time motherhood has been devalued, that the crisis of the family is worsening to the limits we see... these are not isolated elements but respond to a key: the loss of the very meaning of life".
The Catholics and Public Life Congress
The 22nd Congress on Catholics and Public Life will be held online on November 13, 14 and 15 and can be followed through its website: www.congreso.ceu.es. Throughout the three days, several plenary conferences will be held, which will address aspects such as European policies on life and family; the current demographic panorama and forecasts in Spain; the defense of the right to life; and the protection of human life. Likewise, eight simultaneous workshops will be held to analyze the Spanish demographic abyss; motherhood and its promotion; the family and family policies; euthanasia and palliative care; the defense of life in the media; the protection of the weakest in the Church; and the defense of life and young people.
