Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct 12, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In an interview with CNA during his recent his visit to Brazil, Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said dialogue with the culture requires first a reaffirmation of one’s own Catholic identity.
The French Cardinal, who is presiding over a series of gatherings at Catholic cultural centers in several Brazilian cities, told CNA that “to dialogue with another means one has to be oneself.” Dialogue is an exchange between two persons; each one has his convictions, and dialogue allows each to understand the convictions of the other, and this is true in all areas of culture.”
“The fundamental reference for our Catholic identity is Jesus Christ who, as Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes states, is the archetype of man,” he added.
“This is the basis upon which we dialogue: that Jesus Christ is the one in whom the fullness of man’s vocation is realized. And, we are members of the Catholic Church, and wherever we are we are always linked to a bishop, who is linked to the Pope, the Successor of Peter.”