People expect authoritative teaching from church leaders, pope says

Published: 2003-10-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In societies where public life seems to have lost all reference to faith and values, bishops must redouble their efforts to be authoritative teachers, Pope John Paul II said. "England and Wales, despite being steeped in a rich Christian heritage, today face the pervasive advance of secularism," the pope told bishops making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican. Bishops make such visits every five years to report on the status of their dioceses. The growth of secularism leads to extreme individualism, a loss of a sense of right and wrong, the disintegration of families, racial tensions and divided communities, the pope said in his Oct. 23 message to the bishops. "A vision of humanity apart from God and removed from Christ" promotes an idea that each individual can define right and wrong and, "consequently destroys the mutual bonds which define social living," the pope said.

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