Vatican official says societies must find common ethical norms

Published: 2004-10-26

ROME (CNS) -- In the absence of a shared Judeo-Christian value system, societies must find some common ethical norms to save democracy and the weak from the whims of the powerful, said Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The power human beings now have to create, manipulate and destroy human life in the laboratory "is becoming a greater threat than weapons of mass destruction," said the cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Ratzinger and Ernesto Galli della Loggia, a professor of the history of political parties and movements at the University of Perugia, Italy, discussed history, politics and religion at an Oct. 25 conference in Rome. Italian government officials, members of Parliament, Vatican officials and leaders of the Diocese of Rome attended the gathering, sponsored by the Center for Political Orientation. "We find ourselves in a situation in which it would be opportune to dialogue," Cardinal Ratzinger said. "Our moral capacity has not grown at the same rate as our potential power," he said.

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