Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In the current relativistic culture, an idea is spreading that "there are no objective reference points in determining what is true from what is not true, instead it is the individual, with his or her insights and experiences , that is the measure thereof, and so each person therefore their own truth, their own morality. " For Christians, however, the conscience is the human capacity to recognize the truth, and, before that, the opportunity to hear its call, to try and find it".
From these two visions, mentioned today by Benedict XVI, opposing consequences emerge. In the first case "religion and morality tend to be confined within the sphere of the subjective, the private: faith with its values and its behaviour, in short, is no longer entitled to a place in public or civil life”. While in the case of the Christian perspective "man needs to know how to be open to the truth and to goodness, to welcome them in a free and conscious manner." Hence the need for "god and man to meet each other again" and for institutions rediscover their moral roots.
The Pope's comments on "conscience", during a meeting with the Rome Police department, was followed by the observation that in this city, as in the rest of the world, there is "a sense of insecurity, primarily due to social and economic instability, but also exacerbated by a weakening of the perception of ethical principles that underpin the law and the personal moral attitudes, which always give strength to the rules that govern society".
At the origin of this "insecurity" is also the risk that "great importance is given to the subjective dimension of existence. This, on the one hand, is good because it allows man and his dignity to be the central consideration of both historic thought and action. It must never be forgotten, however, that man finds his dignity in the deep loving gaze of God, in reference to Him. Attention to the subjective dimension is also good when it highlights the value of human conscience. But here we also encounter a serious risk, because a reductionist view of conscience has developed in modern thought, according to which there are no objective reference points in determining what is true from what is not true, instead that it is the individual, with his or her insights and experiences, who is the measure thereof, and each person therefore has their own truth, their own moral code. The most obvious consequence is that religion and morality tend to be confined within the sphere of the subjective, the private: faith with its values and its behaviour, in short, is no longer entitled to a place in public or civil life. Therefore, if on the one hand, society attaches great importance to pluralism and tolerance, on the other, religion tends to be gradually marginalized and considered irrelevant and, in a sense, extraneous to the civilized world, as if it were to limit its influence on human life".
"On the contrary, for us Christians, the true meaning of "conscience" is the human capacity to recognize the truth, and, before that, the opportunity to hear its call, to try and find it. man needs to know how to be open to the truth and to goodness, to welcome them in a free and conscious manner. The human person, for that matter, is an expression of a plan of love and truth: God has "planned", so to speak, with his inner self, with his conscience, so that it can trace the guidelines to preserve and cultivate itself and human society. "
"The new challenges that emerge on the horizon demand that God and man may once more meet, that society and public institutions rediscover their "soul ", their spiritual and moral roots, to give new substance to ethical values and legal references, and then practical action. The Christian faith and the Church can not cease to offer its own contribution to promoting the common good and an authentic human progress. "
