St. John Paul II's Response To Secularism

St. John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver, CO, 1993 (CNS / Joe Rimkus Jr.)

Earlier this month, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson wrote a column on the Church’s response to the challenge of secularization. In the article, he draws from the “prophetic wisdom” of Saint John Paul II on marriage:

St. John Paul II spent his entire life confronting secular atheism — often in its most virulent and violent forms. The claim of these totalitarian systems was essentially the same: The answer to man’s problems will come in the events of social, economic and political change, whether realized by Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich or Marx’s workers’ paradise.

John Paul II responded to the challenge of secularism on many levels. But most notably he responded to this challenge in his prophetic ministry to married couples and families.

See the Knights of Columbus site for more.

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!

Things Worth Fighting For

At the eighth annual conference of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders this past weekend, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia praised the work of the organization and encouraged those gathered to continue their good work in the face of secularism, in order to bring new life to America. He said:

Hispanic culture still has a soul formed by an encounter with Jesus Christ, and the humanity and compassion that flow from it…

These things are worth fighting for and sharing with others. Faith matters because it gives meaning to the word ‘human’ in ‘human beings.’ It matters because it makes us children of a loving God.

Archbishop Chaput lamented the fact that many American Latinos have left the Catholic Church. Our Lady of Guadalupe, please pray for this organization and others, that they may help draw our Latin American brothers and sisters back into the Church.

More on the New Evangelization

Two new additions have been made to the New Evangelization pages on the Blessed John Paul II Shrine website.

In last month’s edition of Columbia Magazine, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson wrote a piece about the New Evangelization and how we are called to be missionaries in our families and communities.

Cardinal Dolan also gave an address during the Day of Prayer and Reflection of the College of Cardinals. In it he shares a seven step strategy of evangelization that will help defeat the “towering challenge” of secularism in our world.