Madrid, Spain, May 17, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- During the Vigil Mass of Pentecost at the Cathedral of La Almudena, the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, expressed lament that Madrid is “falling into the temptation of a new Babel by wanting to build personal existence and society without God, beginning with marriage and the family.” The former president of the Spanish Bishops Conference addressed his comments to the faithful gathered for the closing of the third diocesan synod of Spain.  He noted during the preparatory phase of the synod, participants were already “fully aware of the crisis of faith that is affecting wide sectors of society.”

“Those who have completely lost [the faith] are not a few, and many live in contradiction with what it implies, some even completely estranged from religious practice, and there is no lack of those to whom the news of God and Jesus Christ has never reached,” the cardinal stated.

“We are in the midst of a spectacle of death of enormous proportions,” as to the victims of wars and “wicked terrorism” one must also add “the massive elimination of those most innocent, the unborn,” the cardinal said.

03:07 pm | Spouse of Costa Rican presidential candidate 'pockets' Eucharist

02:15 pm | Vatican responds to widely divergent reports on Boffo resignation

12:56 pm | Venezuelan cardinal calls for new evangelization of country's capital

11:11 am | International congress to focus on priestly identity and celibacy

07:10 am | Former Saints star says Super Bowl victory revealed a ‘team with destiny’

Cardinal Rouco calls on laity not to fear marginalization and persecution