Cardinal Wuerl emphasizes importance of solidarity amid rising individualism

June 17, 2015

In an address delivered at AFL-CIO headquarters on June 15, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington emphasized the importance of solidarity.

He said:

Recent popes have spoken about certain social and cultural challenges in our world today, including relativism, which denies the existence of objective truth and the natural moral order; secularism, which treats religion as a solely private matter and thus dismisses appreciation of God and the importance of religious faith, values and institutions in the public square; materialism, which can all too easily focus attention on personal gain at the expense of the common good and the needs of others, and individualism which can center on the self and lose sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we bear towards each other.

“What brings fresh urgency to our New Evangelization mission is just how widespread and profound are forces which neglect basic understandings of right and wrong, the common good, the dignity of the human person and our obligations to one another of genuine solidarity,” he continued. “People in this room can point out how these factors have also contributed to a dramatic decrease in union membership in recent years.”

“Catholic social teaching invites us to solidarity with those suffering from injustice, with workers, the unborn, the poor, the homeless, the victims of racism, sexism, the elderly and the handicapped, and all our brothers and sisters in the human family,” he added.

 

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Further information:

• Cardinal Wuerl: The Catholic Ideal of Solidarity and The New Evangelization (Salt and Light Media)
• Erroneous Autonomy: A Conversation on Solidarity & Faith (Catholic University of America)
• Labor Movement Hopes to Get a Bump From Pope Francis Visit (Time)