Question 4.73

4.73 Our world is familiar with spiritualities that are easy and sometimes fashionable. How should we characterize these trends, which may enter into direct competition with Catholicism?

Actually there are many people who have a tendency to take from each spirituality the part that suits them, syncretically, so as to devise a comfortable subjective religion; that leaves us far from the truth in its totality as promoted by the Church. In Africa I see also that the traditional cults are still very much alive. Likewise, in Latin America, the evangelical groups have launched a merciless war of competition against the Catholic Church, with the idea of winning some of the “market share”.

Man’s natural tendency is always to look for places and ideas in which he can find health, wealth, and satisfaction in an almost miraculous way. In the ancient world, the Jewish authorities, or the priests among the early Christians, had to fight against the temptation to go over to the idols and enjoy sweet dreams. The major heresies of the Low Middle Ages often corresponded to a similar logic, exploiting fears, passions, and fantasies. Even today it is still about a search for immediate happiness. Modern man observes more or less correctly the limits of materialism, and to him Christianity seems exhausted or sometimes paralyzed. Here we see the lack of depth to our faith: often a Christian no longer knows what he believes in and is not sufficiently fastened to the Cross. Now, if we move away from God, the snare is never far. The catechetical, biblical, and spiritual formation of the faithful, the priests, and the religious remains the main response to such threatening lack of commitment.

Yes, the Church has only one method: the search for God in prayer and an indepth, contemplative knowledge of his Word. Without a personal connection with God, there is neither constancy nor perspective.

Spiritual drifting is also encouraged by the surrounding relativism. In the winds of passing fashions, having no spiritual roots and without the nourishment of prayer, every Christian is in danger. When I see young African Catholics going back to the traditional cults, which still have the practice of offering sacrifices, I can tell that the priests have been unable to quench a great thirst. Weakness in the life of faith can lead to trends that are sometimes difficult to stop. What breaks my heart is the deep wound caused by the African Catholic priests who have abandoned the grace of their priesthood to enter the sects and to perform in them a sort of sacrilegious priestly ministry. What a loss! What a dagger in the Heart of Jesus! My only response is still prayer.