Sydney, Australia, Jul 14, 2008 / 17:57 pm
During his flight to Australia for the celebration of World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI answered questions from journalists on the papal airplane covering the significance of World Youth Day, the problems of secularism, clerical sexual abuse, climate change and the turmoil in the Anglican Communion.
While insisting that the Holy Spirit ultimately converts young people into witnesses of Christ, he said he hoped that World Youth Day would be a stimulus to help participants live their faith with maturity and responsibility towards creation and society.
When asked about whether he was optimistic about the Catholic Church in Australia or believed it would follow the European path of secular decline, Pope Benedict said that Australia, as part of the “Western world,” shares in its recent economic and technical successes.
However, he said, “religion - Christian faith - is in a certain sense in crisis. This is clear because there is the impression that we do not need God, we can do all on our own, that we do not need God to be happy, we do not need God to create a better world; that God is not necessary, we can do all by ourselves.”