Vatican City, Mar 9, 2004 / 22:00 pm
A study by the Pontifical Council for Culture has revealed that religious indifference and faith in a “faceless God” is on the increase throughout the world, while “active atheism” appears to be diminishing.
“The three hundred responses to our study show a weakening of the faith, both in atheism and in the Church, in the dominant Western culture, which is characterized by a mix a technical rationalism and permissive hedonism,” said Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Vatican dicastery that is holding its plenary assembly this week.
Cardinal Poupard added that “Africa, Asia and also Latin America continue to be invigorated by popular religion in the heart of their cultures.”
Nevertheless, he underscored that “Latin America is characterized by a distortion between the liberal, agnostic elite and the masses that strive to meet the basic needs of the body and the heart.”