Archbishop Argüello: "In the face of secularism, Christians are called to a public commitment consistent with their faith"

"In the face of secularism, Christians are called to a public commitment coherent with their faith". Luis Argüello, auxiliary bishop of Valladolid and University Secretary of the Episcopal lecture , who participated in a lecture with students of the Schools of Theology and Ecclesiastics of Philosophy, on the occasion of the celebration of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In his speech, he first of all approached the meaning of secularism. He pointed out that the state may be secular, but society, on the other hand, is not. Secularism aspires to dominate "the territory of society". He referred to the web of economic, political and cultural relations, large corporations and the media speech as the powers of society. And he recalled their insistence on imposing the secular condition on citizens.

He also stressed that in society there has been a transformation of moral common sense and therefore there is no point of reference: "If there is no truth as a universal heritage, nor a criterion to distinguish good from evil, everything is permitted. When the common grammar of what is human is missing, when everything can mean anything, power is in charge of distributing meaning".

Finally, he listed some of the challenges and opportunities that today's status presents to Christians, who are called to be actively involved in public activity and to rely on the power of grace.

"The state may be secular, but society is plural".

On the difference between a secular state and a secular society, he said: "The state may be secular, but society is plural, it has beliefs, it has ideological perspectives and references of meaning and sense". In the face of society's variety, the omnipresent state poses what sociologists call a "political religion": "What lies beneath the supposed dogma of tolerance of political religion is an attempt to arrogate to itself exclusively the capacity to give meanings to things".

For Bishop Argüello, the challenge facing Catholics is enormous "because power wants to replace religion", and he affirmed that at the same time the opportunity is unprecedented "because we can show the beauty of the face of Jesus Christ".

Before concluding, he listed some opportunities for Catholics at this time. Firstly, he focused on the importance of announcing the kerygma with a Trinitarian dimension; secondly, he affirmed that evangelisation gives the opportunity to praise reason and freedom; and thirdly, he stressed that to evangelise is to transmit hope to contemporaries, especially to the most hopeless.