{"id":1643,"date":"2012-11-19T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T18:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/archbishop-chaput-says-year-of-faith-holds-solution-to-relativism\/"},"modified":"2012-11-19T18:58:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-19T18:58:00","slug":"archbishop-chaput-says-year-of-faith-holds-solution-to-relativism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/11\/archbishop-chaput-says-year-of-faith-holds-solution-to-relativism\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop Chaput says Year of Faith holds solution to relativism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Baltimore, Md., Nov 19, 2012 \/ 11:58 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The current Year of Faith is an opportunity to counter the cultural relativism that plagues modern society and that has led many in the Church to deny Catholic teaching on important topics, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe appropriate response to relativism is faith, where you no longer are the center of the universe, you are no longer the one who decides what\u2019s true, but you commit yourself in faith to God\u2019s truth,\u201d he told CNA on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n

\tAmong the biggest current challenges for the Church in the U.S. is addressing those \u201cwho say they\u2019re Catholic but don\u2019t believe what the Catholic Church teaches,\u201d the archbishop stated. \u201cThe hardest thing is to convince them that they need to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSo many people just think they\u2019re Catholic already and think that they have a right to decide for themselves what\u2019s Catholic and what\u2019s not,\u201d he observed, adding that \u201cwe\u2019re just not getting through to them because they don\u2019t think they need to be gotten through to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s true about all of us,\u201d he said. \u201cThose who most need conversion are the ones who don\u2019t think they need conversion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThat means \u201cit\u2019s easier for the Church to convince people who are not Catholics of the truth of Catholicism than to convince Catholics who aren\u2019t true believers that they ought to change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop Chaput thinks that the root of the problem \u201cis the cultural relativism that Pope Benedict speaks about all the time.\u201d And it has \u201cdeeply infected\u201d the life of the country and many of the people in the Church.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think that\u2019s the result of poor catechesis for a couple of generations,\u201d he said, explaining that people genuinely think that they can \u201cdecide for themselves what it means to be Catholic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tHowever, the archbishop said that he also sees opportunities amidst the challenges.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think the Holy Father has given us an extraordinary framework in which to evangelize \u2013 the Year of Faith,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an act of God\u2019s providence that he declared this period of time for that purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnnounced by Pope Benedict XVI, the Year of Faith began on Oct. 11, 2012 and runs through Nov. 24, 2013. During this year, the Pope is asking Catholics to study and reflect on the catechism and documents of the Second Vatican Council to grow deeper in their faith, so that they can be witnesses to others.<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop Chaput described the Year of Faith as a tremendous blessing for the Church in the U.S. as it faces the challenges of the culture.<\/p>\n

\tHe is also hopeful because the American bishops are increasingly becoming more aware of the problem of cultural relativism and the need to address it.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFor a long time, we weren\u2019t even talking about this as an issue,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you could see it creeping into the Church everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThis new awareness on the part of the bishops, coupled with the call to conversion and witness that is part of the Year of Faith, offers an opportunity for the Church in America to be renewed and grow stronger, he said.<\/p>\n

\tLay Catholics who are sincere about participating in the Year of Faith should encourage their pastors \u201cto develop programs in the parish to promote the New Evangelization,\u201d the archbishop advised.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBecause sometimes, priests might not think that anybody\u2019s interested in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cLay people generally think that if the bishop pushes priests, it will get done,\u201d he said. \u201cMy experience is that it also takes the people in the pews to push from the other direction to get the priests\u2019 attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThis involves not only asking the priest to do things, but the laity volunteering to do things themselves, Archbishop Chaput said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf they do that, I think there are going to be great changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baltimore, Md., Nov 19, 2012 \/ 11:58 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The current Year of Faith is an opportunity to counter the cultural relativism that plagues modern society and that has led many in the Church to deny Catholic teaching on important topics, said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nArchbishop Chaput says Year of Faith holds solution to relativism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Baltimore, Md., Nov 19, 2012 \/ 11:58 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The current Year of Faith is an opportunity to counter the cultural relativism that plagues modern society and that has led many in the Church to deny Catholic teaching on important topics, said...\" \/>\n<meta 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