Cardinal: Religion too often mistrusted instead of being healing sign

Published: 2004-07-29

CHICAGO (CNS) -- The world changed after Sept. 11, 2001, and that includes the way people look at violence and injustice and how the Catholic Church responds to those issues, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago told a group of Catholic social justice leaders July 25. The cardinal gave the opening keynote at the Social Justice Summer Institute, a conference for social justice professionals held July 25-30 in Chicago. The institute is jointly sponsored by several Catholic organizations and agencies, including the Roundtable, Catholic Charities USA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Social Development and World Peace. Rather than speaking on his announced topic of "Shall Be Healed: Overcoming the Globalization of Violence" -- "If I knew how to do that, I'd write a book," the cardinal quipped -- he spoke about the importance of analyzing the contexts in which the church preaches the Gospel and works for social justice and against violence. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, people have become more leery of religion, he said. "Since 9-11, when we were attacked in the name of the God of Abraham, religion is suspect as a cause of social violence -- particularly doctrinaire religion," the cardinal said.

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