Pope urges Lithuanians to defend Christian values against secularism

Published: 2004-12-06

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II urged Lithuanians to defend their traditional Christian values from encroaching secularism with the same fidelity they showed under decades of communist domination. "I exhort Catholics, who make up a large part of the population, to work with all people of good will to prevent Lithuanian society from being strongly influenced by a secular and hedonistic lifestyle and by its false seductions," the pope said Dec. 6. Pope John Paul welcomed Lithuania's new ambassador, Algirdas Saudargas, to the Vatican. The pope said Lithuanian Catholics "cannot be content with combating the consequences of evil," but must work hard to promote legislation and behaviors that "favor the defense of the family and of life from the moment of conception to natural death." Lithuania, which won its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, is about 70 percent Catholic.

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