Italian bishops' leader: cultural collapse is reason why some join Islamic State

March 24, 2015

The president of the Italian bishops’ conference decried the collapse of society’s cultural norms in his address to the bishops’ meeting on March 23.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa said that one dramatic sign of a society that is "empty of its own spiritual, moral, anthropological" principles is the willingness of young Italians to join the ranks of Islamic radicals.

Cardinal Bagnasco said that the Italian people have every right to be angered by public corruption, in the wake of a series of government scandals. Such corruption, he said, is “a very grave offense to the poor and the honest.”

Addressing the controversial issue of “gender education” in the schools, the cardinal said that this approach was leading toward the production of “transhuman” beings. He insisted that parents should be the final authorities in the moral education of their children, saying that this is a “fundamental right” of parents rather than a concession granted by the state.

 

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Further information:

• Bagnasco says gender theory may lead to 'transhuman' (ANSA)
• Bagnasco says youth join ISIS because culture lacking-update (ANSA)