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‘As a bishop, it is my duty to warn the West’: An interview with Cardinal Sarah </h1>
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<a class="gmail-sf-author__link" href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/author/cardinal-robert-sarah/" rel="author"><span>Cardinal Robert Sarah</span></a>
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5 April, 2019</div><div class="gmail-sf-article-header__meta"><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/04/05/as-a-bishop-it-is-my-duty-to-warn-the-west-an-interview-with-cardinal-sarah/">https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/04/05/as-a-bishop-it-is-my-duty-to-warn-the-west-an-interview-with-cardinal-sarah/</a><br>
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</div></div><div class="gmail-sf-article-header"></div><div class="gmail-sf-article-header"><br></div><div class="gmail-sf-article-header"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The Vatican cardinal<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>discusses his hard-hitting new book </b></span>in this exclusive interview with La Nef </div><div class="gmail-sf-article-content__text">
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Cardinal Robert Sarah is publishing the third of his book-length interviews with Nicolas Diat: </span><i><span style="font-weight:400">The Day is Far Spent</span></i><span style="font-weight:400">.</span><span style="font-weight:400"> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>An unflinching diagnosis, but one full of hope</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>in the midst of the spiritual and moral crisis of the West.</b></span></span></p>
<p><b>1) In the first part of your book, you describe “a spiritual and
religious collapse.” How does this collapse manifest itself? Does it
only affect the West or are other regions of the world, such as Africa,
also affected by it?</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The spiritual crisis involves the
entire world. But its source is in Europe. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>People in the West are guilty
of rejecting</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>God.</b></span> They have not only rejected God. Friedrich <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Nietzsche,
who may be considered the spokesman of the West, has claimed: “<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">God</span> is
dead! <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">God </span>remains dead! And we have killed <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">him</span>…</b></span>” We have murdered God.
In view of God’s death among men, Nietzsche would replace him with a
prophetic “Superman.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The spiritual collapse thus has a
very Western character. In particular, I would like to emphasize<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the
rejection of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">fatherhood</span>. </b></span>Our contemporaries are convinced that, in order
to be free, one must not depend on anybody. There is a tragic error in
this.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> Western people are convinced that<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> receiving</span> is contrary to the
dignity of human persons.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>But civilized man is fundamentally an heir, he
receives a history, a culture, a language, a name, a family.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">This is
what distinguishes him from </span>the barbarian. To refuse to be inscribed
within a network of dependence, heritage, and filiation condemns us to
go back naked into the jungle of a competitive economy left to its own
devices. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Because he refuses to</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>acknowledge himself as an heir, man </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is
condemned to the hell of liberal globalization in which individual
interests confront one another without any <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">law to govern</span> them besides
profit at any price. </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">In this book, however, I want to
suggest to Western people that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the real cause of this refusal </b></span>to claim
their inheritance and this refusal of fatherhood i<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>s the rejection of
God.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>From Him we receive our nature as man and woman</b></span>. This is
intolerable to modern minds. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Gender ideology is a Luciferian refusal to <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">
</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>receive a sexual nature from God.</b></span> Thus some rebel against God and
pointlessly mutilate themselves in order to change their sex. But in
reality they do not fundamentally change anything of their structure as
man or woman. The West refuses to receive, and will accept only what it
constructs for itself. Transhumanism is the ultimate avatar of this
movement. Because it is a gift from God, human nature itself becomes
unbearable for western man. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>This revolt is spiritual at root. It
is the revolt of Satan against</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> the gift of grace</b></span>. Fundamentally, I
believe that Western man refuses to be saved by God’s mercy. He refuses
to receive salvation, wanting to build it for himself. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The “fundamental
values” promoted by the UN are based on a rejection o</b></span>f<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> God</b></span> that I
compare with<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> the rich young man in the Gospel. </b></span>God has looked upon the
West and has loved it because it has done wonderful things. He invited
it to go further, but the West turned back. It preferred the kind of
riches that it owed only to itself.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Africa and Asia are not yet</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>entirely
contaminated by gender ideology, transhumanism, or the hatred o</b></span>f
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>fatherhood</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>But the Western powers’ neo-colonialist spirit and will to
dominate pressures countries to adopt these deadly ideologies.</b></span></span></p>
<p><b>2) You write that “Christ never promised his faithful that they
would be in the majority” (pg. 34), and you go on: “Despite the
missionaries’ greatest efforts, the Church has never dominated the
world. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">The Church’s mission is a mission of love, and love does not <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
dominate</span>”</span> (pg. 35). Earlier, you wrote that “it is the ‘small remnant’
that has saved the faith.” If you will pardon a bold question: What is
the problem exactly, seeing that this “small remnant” does in fact exist
currently and manages to survive even in a world hostile to the faith?</b></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>C</b></span><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>hristians must be missionaries. </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">They
cannot keep the treasure of the Faith for themselves</span></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Mission and
evangelization remain an urgent spiritual task. And as St. Paul says,
every Christian should be able to say</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> “If I proclaim the gospel, this
gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and
woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” (</b></span>1 Cor 9:16). Further, “God
desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”
(1 Tim 2:4). How can we do nothing when so many souls do not know the
only truth that sets us free: Jesus Christ? <u><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The prevailing relativism
considers religious pluralism to be a good in itself</b></span>.</u><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><u><b> No! The plenitude
of revealed truth that the Catholic Church has received must be
transmitted, proclaimed, and preached. </b></u></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The goal of evangelization is not
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">world domination</span>, but the service of God.</b></span> Don’t forget that Christ’s
victory over the world is…the Cross! It is not our intention to take
over the power of the world.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Evangelization is done through the Cross.</b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The martyrs are the first
missionaries. Before the eyes of men, their life is a failure. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The goal
of evangelization is not <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">to “keep count” </span>l</b></span>ike social media networks that
want to “make a buzz.” Our goal is not to be popular in the media. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>We
want that each and every soul be saved by Christ. Evangelization is not <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">a
question of success.</span> It is a profoundly interior and supernatural
reality.</b></span></span></p>
<p><b>3) I’d like to go back to one of your points in the previous
question. Do you mean to say that European Christendom, where
Christianity was able to establish itself throughout the whole of
society, was only a sort of interlude in history; that it should not be
taken as a model in the sense that in Europe Christianity “dominated”
and imposed itself through a kind of social coercion? </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>A society permeated by the Faith, the
Gospel, and natural law is something desirable. It is the job of the
lay faithful to construct it</b></span>. That is in fact their proper vocation.
They work for the good of all when they build a city in conformity with
human nature and open to Revelation.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> But the more profound goal of the
Church is not<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> to construct a particular model society. </span>The Church has
received the mandate to proclaim salvation, which is a supernatural
reality. </b></span>A just society disposes souls to receive the gift of God, but
it cannot give salvation. On the other hand, can there be a society that
is just and in conformity with the natural law without the gift of
grace working in souls? There is great need to proclaim the heart of our
Faith:<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> only Jesus saves us from <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">sin</span></b></span>. It must be emphasized, however,
that evangelization is not complete when it takes hold of social
structures.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> A society inspired by the Gospel protects the weak against
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the consequences of sin</span></b></span>.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> Conversely, a society cut off from God quickly
turns into a dictatorship and becomes a structure of sin, encouraging
people toward evil.</b></span> That is why we can say that there can be no just
society without a place for God in the public sphere<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>. A state that
officially espouses atheism is an unjust state.</b></span> A state that relegates
God to the private sphere cuts itself off from the true source of rights
and justice. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>A state that pretends to found rights on<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> good will </span>alone,
and does not seek to found the law<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> on an objective order received from
the Creator,</span> risks falling into totalitarianism.</b></span></span></p>
<p><b>4) Over the course of European history, we have moved from a
society in which the group outweighed the person (the holism of the
Middle Ages) – a type of society that still exists in Africa and
continues to characterize Islam – to a society in which the person is
emancipated from the group (individualism). We might also say, broadly
speaking, that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">we have passed from<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> a society dominated by the quest for
truth </span>to a society dominated by the quest for freedom.</span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> The Church
herself has developed her doctrine in the face of</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">this evolution</span>,
proclaiming the right to religious liberty at Vatican II. How do you see
the position of the Church toward this evolution? Is there a balance to
be struck between the two poles of “truth” and “freedom,” whereas so
far we have merely gone from one excess to the other?</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">It is not correct to speak of a
“balance” between two poles: truth and freedom. In fact, this manner of
speaking presupposes that these realities are external to and in
opposition to one another. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Freedom is essentially a tending toward what
is good and true. </b></span>The truth is meant to be known and freely embraced. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>A
freedom that is not itsel</b></span></span><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"></span></span><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>f </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>oriented and guided by truth<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is nonsensical.
</b></span>Error has no rights. Vatican II recalled the fact that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>truth can only be
established by the force of truth itself,</b></span> and not by coercion. It also
recalled that respect for persons and their freedom should not in any
way make us indifferent in relation to the true and the good.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Revelation is the breaking in of
divine truth into our lives. It does not constrain us. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>In giving and
revealing Himself, God respects the freedom that He Himself created.</b></span> I
believe that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the opposition between</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>truth and freedom</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is the fruit of a
false conception of human dignit</b></span>y. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Modern man hypostatizes his freedom,
making it an absolute to the point of believing that it is threatened
</b></span><b>w<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">hen he accepts the truth</span></b>. However, to accept the truth is the most
beautiful act of freedom that man can perform. I believe that your
question reveals how deeply the crisis of the Western conscience is
really in the end a crisis of faith. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Western man is afraid of losing <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">his
freedom</span> by <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">accepting the gift of true faith</span>. </b></span>He prefers to close
himself up inside a freedom that is devoid of content. The act of faith
is an encounter between freedom and truth. That is why in the first
chapter of my book I have insisted on the crisis of faith. Our freedom
comes to fulfillment when it says “yes” to revealed truth. If freedom
says “no” to God, it denies itself. It asphyxiates. </span></p>
<p><b>5) <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">You</span> dwell at length on the crisis of the priesthood and<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> argue
for priestly celibacy. </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">What </span>do you see<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> as the primary cause in the cases
of sexual abuse</span> of minors<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> by priests,</span> and what do you think of the
summit that just took place in Rome on this question?</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">I think that<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the crisis of the
priesthood is one of the main factors in the crisis</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> of the Churc</b></span>h. <b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">We
have taken away priests’ identity. We have made priests believe that
they need to be efficient men.</span></b> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>But a priest is fundamentally the
continuation of Christ’s presence </b></span>among us. He should not be defined by
what he does, but by <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">what he is: </span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><i><span style="font-weight:400">ipse Christus</span></i></span><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">,
Christ Himself. T</span>he discovery of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>many cases of sexual abuse</b></span> against
minors reveals<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a profound spiritual crisis, a grave, deep, and tragic
rupture between<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the priest and Christ</span>. </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there are<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> social factors:
the crisis of the ‘60s and the sexualization of society,</b></span> which rebound
on the Church. But we must have the courage to go further. The <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>roots of
this crisis are spiritual. A priest who does not pray or makes a theatre
out of the <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">sacraments, especially the Eucharist,</span> a priest who only <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">
confesses</span> rarely and who does not live concretely like another Christ,
is cut off from t<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">he source</span> of his own being.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The result is death</b></span>. I have
dedicated this book to the priests of the whole world because I know
that they are suffering. Many of them feel abandoned. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">We, the bishops, bear a large share
of responsibility for the crisis of the priesthood. Have we been fathers
to them? Have we listened to them, understood and guided them? Have we
given them an example? T<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>oo often dioceses are transformed into
administrative structures. </b></span>There are so many meetings. The bishop should
be the model for the priesthood. But we ourselves are far from being
the ones most ready to pray in silence, or to chant the Office in our
cathedrals. I fear that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>we lose ourselves in secondary, profane
responsibilities. </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">T<b>he place of a priest is on the
Cross. When he celebrates Mass, he is at the source of his whole life,
namely the Cross. Celibacy is a concrete means that permits us to live
this mystery of the Cross in our live</b>s. </span>Celibacy inscribes the Cross in
our very flesh<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>. That is why celibacy<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></b><b>is intolerable for the modern
world.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Celibacy is <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">a scandal for modern people</span>, because the Cross is <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">a
scandal.</span> </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">In this book, I want to encourage
priests. I want to tell them: love your priesthood! Be proud to be
crucified with Christ! Do not fear the world’s hate! I want to express
my affection as a father and brother for the priests of the whole
world.</span></p>
<p><b>6) In a book that has caused quite a stir [</b><b><i>In the Closet of the Vatican</i></b><b>,
by Frédéric Martel], the author explains that there are many homosexual
prelates in the Vatican. He lends credibility to Mgr Viganò’s
denunciation of the influence of a powerful gay network in the heart of
the Curia. What do you think of this?<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> Is there a homosexual problem in
the heart of the Church and if so, why is it a taboo? </span></b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Today<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the Church<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> is living with
</span>Christ through</span> the outrages of the Passion. The sins of her members come
back to her like strikes on the face</b></span>. Some have tried to
instrumentalize these sins in order to put pressure on the bishops. Some
want them to adopt the judgments and language of the world.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> Some
bishops have caved in to the pressure. We see them calling for the
abandonment of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">priestly celibacy</span> or making unsound statements about
homosexual acts</b></span>. Should we be surprised?<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> The Apostles themselves turned
tail in the Garden of Olives. They abandoned Christ in His most
difficult hour.</b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">We must be realistic and concrete.
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Yes, there are sinners. Yes, there are unfaithful priests, bishops, and
even cardinals who fail to </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>observe chastity.</b></span> But also, and this is also
very grave, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>they fail to</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> hold fast to doctrinal truth! </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>They disorient
<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">the Christian faithful</span> by their confusing and ambiguous language. They
adulterate and falsify<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the Word of God,</span> willing to twist and bend it to
gain the world’s approval</b></span>.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> They are </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>the Judas Iscariots of our time. </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Sin </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>should not surprise us</b></span>. On the
other hand,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> we must have the courage to call</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">it </span>by name</b></span>. We must not be
afraid to rediscover <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the methods of spiritual combat: prayer, penance,
and fasting.</b></span> We must have the clear-sightedness to punish
unfaithfulness. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>We must find the concrete means to prevent<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>it.</b></span> I believe
that without a common prayer life, without a minimum of common
fraternal life between priests, fidelity is an illusion. We must look to
the model of the Acts of the Apostles. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>With regard to homosexual behaviors, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">
let us not</span> fall into the trap of the manipulators.</b></span> There is no
“homosexual problem”<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> <b>in the</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Church</b></span>.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> There is a problem of sins and
infidelity. </b></span>Let us not perpetuate the vocabulary of LGBT ideology.
<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Homosexuality <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">does not </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">define</span> the identity of persons</b></span>.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> It describes
certain deviant, sinful, and perverse acts. For these acts, as for other
sins, the remedies</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>are known. We must return to Christ, and allow him
to convert us</b></span>. When the fault is public, the penalties provided for by
Church law must be applied. Punishment is merciful, an act of charity
and fraternal love. Punishment restores the damage done to the common
good and permits the guilty party to redeem himself. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Punishment is part
of the paternal role of bishops. Finally, we must have the courage to
clearly apply the norms regarding the acceptance of seminarians. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Men
whose psychology is deeply and permanently anchored in homosexuality, or
who practice duplicity and lying,</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><u>cannot</u> be accepted as candidates for
the priesthood.</b></span></span></p>
<p><b>7) One chapter is dedicated to the “crisis of the Church.” When
precisely do you place the beginning of this crisis and what does it
consist in? In particular, how do you relate the “crisis of faith” to
the crisis of “moral theology.” Does one precede the other? </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The crisis of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church</span> is above all
a crisis of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the faith</span>. Some want the Church to be a human and
horizontal society; they want it to speak the language of the media.
</b></span>They want to make it popular.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> They urge it not to speak <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">about God</span>, but
to throw itself body and soul into <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">social problems: migration, ecology,
dialogue, the culture of encounter, the struggle against poverty, for
justice and peace</span>. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>These are of course important and vital questions </b></span>
before which the Church cannot shut her eyes<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>. But a Church such as this
is of interest to</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> no one</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The Church is only of interest because she
allows us to encounter Jesus. She is only legitimate because she passes
on Revelation to us</b></span>. When the Church becomes overburdened with human
structures, it obstructs the light of God shining out in her and through
her. We are tempted to think that our action and our ideas will save
the Church. It would be better to begin by letting her save herself. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">I think we are at a turning point in
the history of the Church. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The Church needs a profound, radical reform
that must begin by a reform of the life of her priests. Priests must be
possessed by the desire for holiness, for perfection in God and fidelity
to the doctrine of Him who has chosen and sent them</b></span>. Their whole being
and all their activities must be put to the service of sanctity. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The
Church is holy in herself. </b></span>Our sins and our worldly concerns prevent her
holiness from diffusing itself. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>It is time to</b></span> put aside all these
burdens and<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> allow the Church finally appear as God made Her.</b></span> Some
believe that the history of the Church is marked by structural reforms. I
am sure <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">that</span><b> it is the saints who change history. The structures follow
afterwards, and do nothing other than perpetuate the what the saints
brought about. </b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>We need saints who dare to see all
things through the eyes of faith, who dare to be enlightened by the
light of God</b></span>. The crisis of moral theology is the consequence of a
voluntary blindness. We have refused to look at life through the light
of the Faith.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">In the conclusion of my book, I speak
about <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>a poison from which are all suffering: a virulent atheism. It
permeates everything, even<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> our ecclesiastical discourse.</span> It consists in
allowing radically pagan and worldly modes of thinking or living to
coexist side by side with<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> faith.</span></b></span> And we are quite content with this
unnatural cohabitation! This shows that our faith has become diluted and
inconsistent! <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The first reform we need is in our hearts. </b></span>We must no
longer compromise with lies. The Faith is both the treasure we have to
defend and the power that will permit us to defend it.</span></p>
<p><b>8) The second and third parts of your book are about<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> crisis in
western societies.</span> The subject is so vast, and you touch on so many
important points–from the expansion of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the “culture of death” to the
problems of consumerism tied to global liberalism, passing through
questions of identity, transmission, Islamism, etc.</span>–that it is
impossible to address them all. Among these problems, which seem to you
to be the most important and what are the principal causes for the
decline of the West?</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">First I would like to explain <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>why I, a
son of Africa</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">, allow myself to address</span> the West.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> The Church is the
guardian of civilization</b></span>. I am convinced that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>western civilization </b></span>is <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>
passing at present through a mortal crisis.</b></span> It has reached the extreme
of self-destructive hate. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>As during the fall of Rome, elites are only
concerned to increase the luxury of their daily life and the peoples are
being anesthetized by ever more vulgar entertainment.</b></span> As a bishop, it
is my duty to warn the West! <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The barbarians are already inside<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the city</span>.
The barbarians are all those who hate <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">human nature</span>, all those who
trample upon<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the sense of the sacred</span>, all those who do not value <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">life</span>,
all those who rebel against <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">God the Creator of man and nature.</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The West
is blinded by<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> science, technology, and the thirst for riches</span></b><b>. The lure
of riches, which liberalism spreads in hearts, has sedated the peoples.
At the same time, the silent tragedy of abortion and euthanasia continue
and pornography and gender ideology destroy <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">children and adolescents</span>.
</b></span>We are accustomed to barbarism. It doesn’t even surprise us anymore<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>! I
want to raise a cry of alarm, which is also a cry of love. I do so with a
heart full of filial gratitude for the Western missionaries who died in
my land of Africa and who communicated to me the precious gift of faith
in Jesus Christ. I want to follow their lead and receive their
inheritance</b></span>!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">How could I not emphasize<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the threat
posed by Islamism? <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Muslims despise</span> the atheistic West. They take refuge
in Islamism <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">as a rejection of</span> the consumer society that is offered to
<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">them </span>as a religion. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Can the West present them the Faith in a clear way?
For that it will have to rediscover its Christian roots and identity.</span> To
the countries of the third world, the West is held<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b><b>out as a paradise
because it is ruled by commercial liberalism. This encourages the flow
of <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">migrants</span>, so tragic for the identity of peoples. A West that denies
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">its faith, its history, its roots, and its identity </span>is destined for
contempt, for death, and disappearance.</b></span> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">But I would like to point out that
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>everything is prepared for a renewal. I see families, monasteries, and
parishes that are like oases in the middle of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">a desert</span>. It is from these
oases of faith, liturgy, beauty, and silence that the West will be
reborn. </b></span></span></p>
<p><b>9) You end this beautiful book with a section entitled
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">“Rediscovering Hope: The Practice of the Christian Virtues</span>.” What do you
mean by this? In what way can practicing these virtues be a remedy for
the multifarious crisis we have spoken about in this interview?</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">We should not imagine a special
program that could provide a remedy for the current multi-faceted
crisis<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>. We have simply to live our Faith, completely and radically</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The
Christian virtues are the Faith blossoming in all the human faculties.
They mark the way for a happy life in harmony with God. We must create
places where they can flourish. I call upon Christians to open oases of
freedom in the midst</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the desert created by rampant profiteering.</b></span> We must
create places where the air is breathable, or simply where the
Christian life is possible. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Our communities must put God in the center.</b></span>
Amidst the avalanche of lies, we must be able to find <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>places where truth
is not only <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">explained</span> but experienced. In a word, we must live the
Gospel:</b></span> not merely thinking about it as a utopia, but living it in a
concrete way. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The Faith is like a fire, but it has to be burning in
order to be transmitted to others. Watch over this sacred fire! Let it
be your warmth </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>in the heart of this winter of the Wes</b></span>t.<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> “If God is for
us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31</b></span>).<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> In the disaster, confusion, and
darkness of our world</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>we find</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>“the light that shines in the darkness”
</b></span>(cf. Jn 1:5): <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>He who said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life</b></span>” (Jn
14:6).</span></p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Zachary Thomas (<a href="https://lanef.net/2019/03/29/un-monde-a-reconstruire/">Original</a>)</em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight:400">Note: the French text published
by La Nef edited the text of the interview given by the Cardinal. This
is a translation of the integral text supplied by the Cardinal.</span></em></p></div>
</div></div>