"With the collapse of the Judeo-Christian worldview and the rise of secularism, political belief systems based on social justice and personal identity have come to fill the space once occupied by Christian beliefs and practices," the archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) noted in his telematic address at the launch of the imminent Congress organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists and the CEU, entitled Political correctness: freedoms at risk.
In the opinion of Monsignor José Gómez, "the best way for the Church to understand what the new social justice movements are is to consider them as pseudo-religions, and even as replacements and rivals of traditional Christian beliefs".
"Whatever we call these movements-"social justice." "culture woke" (awakening), 'identity politics', 'intersectionality', 'successor ideology' - these claim to offer what religion provides. Moreover, like Christianity, these new movements tell their own 'salvation story'.
Consequently, "now more than ever, the Church and every Catholic needs to know the Christian story, and proclaim it in all its beauty and in all its truth, because today, there is another story going around. An antagonistic narrative of 'salvation' that we hear in the media and in our institutions, coming from the new social justice movements," he added.
What we might call the history of the "woke" movement, the Archbishop of Los Angeles continued, goes something like this: "We cannot know where we come from, but we are aware that we have common interests with those who share our skin color or our position in society. We are painfully aware that our group is suffering and being alienated, and this happens, through no fault of our own. The cause of our unhappiness is that we are victims of oppression by other groups in society. And we achieve liberation and redemption through our constant struggle against our oppressors, waging a battle for political and cultural power, in the name of creating an equitable society."
Building with the truth about God
This is certainly "a powerful and attractive discourse for millions of people, both in American society and in societies throughout the West," said Msgr. José Gómez, who stressed that "of course we all want to foster a society in which there is equality, freedom and dignity for all people. But we can only build a just society on the basis of the truth about God and about human nature. This has been the constant teaching of our Church and the Holy Fathers for almost two centuries, and to this day."
At this point, the Archbishop recalled Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who "warned us that the eclipse of God leads to the eclipse of the human person. Again and again he reminded us: when we forget God, we no longer see the image of God in our neighbor."
He went on to quote Pope Francis, who "has forcefully emphasized the same truth in Fratelli TuttiUnless we believe that God is our Father, we will find no reason to treat others as our brothers and sisters".
Atheistic ideologies and Marxist vision
That is precisely the problem we have, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "Today's critical theories and ideologies are profoundly atheistic. They deny the soul, as well as the spiritual and transcendent dimension of human nature; or they think it is irrelevant to human happiness. They reduce what it means to be human to essentially physical qualities such as the color of our skin, our sex, our notions of gender, ethnicity and position in society. Certainly, we can see that these are some elements of liberation theology, rooted in a Marxist cultural vision."
In his opinion, social justice movements should not be underestimated, because they derive "their strength from the simplicity of their explanations: the world is divided into innocents and victims, allies and enemies. This narrative is also appealing because, as I said earlier, it responds to real human needs and suffering. People are suffering, they feel discriminated against and excluded from opportunities in society.
The Gospel, the most powerful force
The Archbishop's final reflection focused on Jesus Christ. What should be done? How should the Church respond to these new secular movements that seek social change? My answer is simple. We need to proclaim Jesus Christ. Proclaim him boldly, creatively. We need to tell our salvation story in a new way. With charity and confidence, without fear. This is the mission of the Church for all times and for all cultural moments."
"We should not be intimidated by these new religions of social justice and political identity," he added. "The Gospel remains the most powerful force for social change that has ever existed in the world. And the Church has been 'anti-racist' from the beginning. Everyone is included within its message of salvation."
Dorothy Day and Augustus Tolton
"Personally, I find inspiration in the saints and in the people who lived a life of holiness in the history of my country," the Archbishop of Los Angeles concluded. "I think especially of the Servant of God, Dorothy Day. For me, she offers an important witness to how Catholics can work to change the social order through radical detachment and love for the poor based on the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount and the works of mercy."
Finally, he mentioned the venerable Father Augustus Tolton. "His is an impressive and truly American story. He was born into slavery, escaped to freedom with his mother and became the first African-American ordained priest in my country. Father Tolton once said, "The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery: that of the mind and that of the body. She strives to free us from both."
"Exasperating individualism."
Archbishop Mario Iceta, Archbishop of Burgos and member of the Executive Commission of the Episcopal Conference, pointed out first of all that "we are in a change of epoch, and a change of epoch refers to a new anthropological conception. This change of epoch does not appear overnight and is linked to a fundamental element which is the concept of freedom".
"Nature is no longer seen as a gift from the Creator," but "the human being gives it meaning. He gives meaning to creation, to humanity itself, to sexuality itself transformed into gender...". And "a disconnected society arises. The Pope speaks of an exasperating individualism and this evidently highlights the reality in which we live. Certainly there is an eclipse of God, the human being is submerged in a pure immanence. And certainly the interpretation of the world is left to ideologies".
At the end of the ceremony, in which the Archbishop of Burgos was accompanied by the President of the Catholic Association of Propagandists, Alfonso Bullón de Mendoza, Monsignor Mario Iceta referred to various phrases of Jesus in the Gospel, in which "that destitution of the human being without the love of God" is appreciated. And he asked himself who are the poor, while making a review of various forms of poverty.
Different modes of poverty
"We think there is only material poverty, but I think there is a gradation of poverty. The first, the most scandalous, the most visible, is material poverty. A really hurtful poverty. Then there is personal poverty. When I was bishop of Bilbao," he said, "when you talked to these people who unfortunately could not find a home, you realized that there was something more than material poverty. A personal, psychological, family poverty... A personal poverty needs deep accompaniment. Then there is the poverty of loneliness, and the tremendous poverty of God. The Lord refers to this when he says 'Man does not live by bread alone'".
The Archbishop of Burgos made a quick review of other forms of poverty. "The great challenge of education. In our short democracy, the eighth education law is striking. The Church has always responded to education. And the question of the media is an essential element for freedom, for peace. We also see a collapsing birth rate in Spain, we are a country of very old people. We do not have a generational replacement. Communication in the social networks, certainly now we have the fake newsthat are lies".
"No confrontation or hostility."
"At a time when there is talk of post-truth, with an interpretation of the world linked to ideologies, in which real truth is confused with certainty or opinion, we Christians must have hope in Christ and in the Gospel, because they are capable of dialoguing with all cultures and thoughts," he stressed.
Bishop Iceta finally asked: "What is our attitude, then? We Christians are called neither to confrontation nor to hostility, but to goodness and beauty. A proposal, certainly, of proposal, of encounter, of enlightenment. Our proposal is to show the good, it is the fullness. That is our way".
