Pope tells magazine staff church must participate in cultural debates

Published: 2006-02-17

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must participate in modern cultural debates, finding ways to present enduring truths in a serious, yet accessible way, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope met Feb. 17 with the editors and staff of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit-run magazine founded by Pope Pius IX in 1850 and one that continues to be reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication. By writing about cultural, social and political issues, the pope said, the magazine helps the Catholic Church in its dialogue with the modern world, identifying positive trends and offering the guidance of the Gospel. Increasingly, modern culture is "closed to God and to his moral law, even if it is not always prejudicially adverse to Christianity," the pope said.

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