Rome, Italy, Sep 8, 2008 / 09:10 am
On Sunday evening, Pope Benedict addressed young people in the Italian city of Cagliari encouraging them to seek family, spiritual and intellectual formation and profound faith in response to the individualism and consumerism that characterize the world today.
The Pope began his address to those on the island of Sardinia by noting the particular problems that the youth face in today’s culture: unemployment and uncertainty, emigration and the resulting displacement from their environment.
"And what can we say," he added, "of the fact that in modern consumer society earnings and success have become the new idols before which so many prostrate themselves? The consequence of this is that people are led to give value only to those who ... 'have found fortune' or who are 'notorious,' and not to those who must struggle with life every day."
According to the Pontiff, "There is a risk of becoming superficial, of taking dangerous shortcuts in search of success, thus giving life up to experiences that bring immediate satisfaction but that are in themselves precarious and deceptive. There is a growing tendency to individualism, and when we concentrate only on ourselves we inevitably become fragile; we lose the patience to listen which is an indispensable part of understanding others and working together."