Prayerful hope can overcome disparity, Cardinal Levada says

Published: 2007-05-02

CLEVELAND (CNS) -- The highest ranking American at the Vatican said that hope, nourished in prayer, can help overcome the disparity that people feel in an increasingly violent society. "Violence is contrary to hope," Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told more than 200 people who gathered April 24 at Gesu Church for the Margaret F. Grace Lecture sponsored by John Carroll University's Cardinal Suenens Center. Dedicating his presentation to the families, survivors and the memories of the students and teachers killed April 16 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Cardinal Levada addressed the issue of hope and left the audience with suggestions that could help blunt the impact of the many forms of violence so prevalent in society. "I am convinced that the dulling of (people's) hope is from secularization," Cardinal Levada said. But it does not need to be that way, the cardinal added as he encouraged the audience to find hope through prayer to God.

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