Relativism imperils Christian humanism, Pope tells university community
May 23, 2011
Christian humanism faces a “progressive deterioration” because of a “tendency to to reduce the human horizon to what can be measured, to eliminate the fundamental question of meaning from systematic and critical knowledge,” Pope Benedict XVI remarked during a May 21 audience with students and faculty from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
The Pope told the university community, which was celebrating its 90th anniversary:
The Christian perspective is not in contradiction of scientific knowledge or the achievements of human ingenuity. Just the opposite, it considers faith as the horizon of meaning, the path to full truth, and the guide of authentic development. Without an orientation to the truth, without a humble and ardent attitude of investigation, every culture crumbles, decays into relativism, and becomes lost in the ephemeral.
Pope Benedict encouraged the students and professors to recognize the link between reason and faith. He also urged them to maintain a prayerful approach to the quest for knowledge, noting that “the chapel is the beating heart that constantly nourishes the life of the university.”
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