Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2010 / 04:04 am
In a Wednesday speech at Catholic University of America (CUA), Cardinal Christoph Schönborn lauded Christians’ freedom from “political correctness” and “the latest fashions.” Seeing hope for renewal in past monastic movements and in the contemporary United States, he discussed the relationship between Christianity and the modern West.
His speech, titled “Christianity: Alien Presence or Foundation of the West?” discussed Christianity’s “paradoxical” place in contemporary Europe. According to a press release from the university, he said Christianity is both alien and foundational to modernity in different ways.
“On the one hand, Christianity is Europe’s roots. On the other hand, these roots are more and more forgotten, ignored, and in an alarming way. Christianity is for many a foreign element in a world determined by reason, enlightenment and democratic principles.”
The cardinal said he does not believe that Europe and the Western world will survive without Christianity, whose decline on the continent he described as shocking.