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<h1 class="gmail-article-title">Relativism is ‘root of the new moral paradigm proposed by Pope Francis’: Catholic historian
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<p class="gmail-article-tags gmail-hide-print"><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/relativism-is-root-of-the-new-moral-paradigm-proposed-by-pope-francis-catholic-historian">https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/relativism-is-root-of-the-new-moral-paradigm-proposed-by-pope-francis-catholic-historian</a></p>
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<p>September 27, 2019 (<a href="http://lifesitenews.com/">LifeSiteNews</a>)
– <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>A world-renowned Catholic academic and historian</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>has stated</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>that
“ethical relativism,” which has so completely undermined </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
marriage
and
the family</b></span>,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> “is at the root of the new moral paradigm</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>proposed by Pope
Francis.”</b></span> </p>
<p>Professor Roberto di Mattei made the comment, at a conference earlier
this month, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>in reference to <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the ongoing battle </span>in the Church</b></span> over the
family <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>since the publication of Pope Francis’ 2016 exhortation </b></span><em><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Amoris Laetitia.</b></span> </em>The
Sept. 6-8 conference, organized by Voice of the Family, an initiative
of LifeSiteNews and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children,
was titled “<a href="http://voiceofthefamily.com/cardiff/">Handing on the Deposit of the Faith</a>.” It was held at Newman Hall, University Catholic Chaplaincy, in Cardiff, UK.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>In his talk, titled Family and the Revolution</b></span> (read full talk below),
di Mattei <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>focused on</b></span><u><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> the restoration of the Catholic family as
necessary to “reform society and the Church.”</b></span></u></p>
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</div><p>“<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The work of restoration must lean above all on
supernatural means: prayer, grace and the sacraments. Above all, prayer </b></span>–
the elevation of the mind to God, is necessary. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>And the highest form of
prayer is the Holy Mass. </b></span>But we need priests to celebrate the Mass and
administer the sacraments, which constitute the vital nourishment for
Christians. Thus, we must conclude that<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> above all there is a need for
priests. While this is true, we also need mothers, because <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">without
</span>mothers <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">there will not be </span>priests,”</span> he said. </b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">“<b>We also need fathers, because <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">without</span> fathers <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">there are neither</span> mothers,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> nor</span> children,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> nor</span> a future.</b><b> We need <em>men</em>.</b></span> And, as Monsignor Delassus says, we no longer have men because we do not have families to produce them,” he added. </p>
<p>The professor outlined<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the philosophers promoting relativism who have
aimed at destroying<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the family,</span> including “Marx and Engels, Sigmund
Freud, and the intellectuals of 1968.”</b></span></p>
<p>He lamented that this destructive agenda finds allies today within the Catholic Church.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“In the last fifty years the crisis of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the family</span> has assumed
frightening dimensions. What makes the situation even more serious is
that the attacks on <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the family</span> are not coming only from the outside, but
<u>also from within</u> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church</span>.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“This philosophy</b></span>, which has even penetrated the Catholic Church,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> is
at the root of the new moral paradigm<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>proposed by Pope Francis,</b></span>” he
said.</p>
<p>Speaking of the battle over the family within the Church, Professor
di Mattei said that in his view it was “only one battle in a context of a
greater <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>war between</b></span> two cities which have battled throughout history,
the two cities of which Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote: <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the city of God <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
and the City of Satan.”</span></b></span></p>
<p>He contrasted this ongoing battle within the Church over the family
with what he identified as <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the three non-negotiable values outlined
during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. </b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><u><b>“The ‘non-negotiable values’ are thus the right to life; the right to
a natural family; the right of education of one’s own children.</b></u></span> These
rights are linked among themselves, because it is within the family that
life is born and it belongs to the family to develop life by means of
education”.</p>
<p>Professor di Mattei argued that a true “sense of Tradition” is
crucial in winning the battle over the family against those utilizing
the philosophy of relativism.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">“Tradition is the living and unchangeable element of society.
Tradition is what is stable in the perennial unfolding of things</span>,</b></span> it is
what is unchangeable in a world that changes, and it is so because it
contains in itself a reflection of eternity. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The family is the deposit
of Tradition in society.”</b></span></p>
<p>He concluded his talk by reminding his listeners that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Fatima seer
Sister Lucia had warned that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the “decisive battle between</span> the Kingdom <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">
of </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Christ</span> and Satan will be over </span>the family.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Quoting Lucia, he continued: “And those who will work for the good of
the family <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">will experience persecution and tribulation. </span></b><b>But there is no
need to be afraid because the Blessed Mother has already crushed<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> the
serpent’s head.”</span></b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>“This is what the Madonna promised at Fatima, and we, with immense faith, believe her,</b></span>” he commented. </p></div>
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