Archbishop tells conference participants to love others, change world

Published: 2007-10-03

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, a keynote speaker at the Indiana Catholic Men's Conference, told participants they should focus on being holy and helping God "share his love with the whole world." "To be Catholic is to be very unique among the world's believers. To be a Catholic means believing that you are a part of a vast historical project. And it's not our project. It's God's," Archbishop Chaput told more than 1,000 men attending the Sept. 22 conference at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. In his presentation, "Renewing the Church, Converting the World -- Reclaiming Our Catholic Mission," the archbishop compared the Bible to the sacred books of other world religions." What all the sacred texts of other religions have in common is that they're essentially wisdom literature. They're collections of noble teachings aimed at helping believers live ethically and find the right path to peace or happiness or enlightenment," he said. The Bible also aims to make people wise, Archbishop Chaput said. "But it does much more. It seeks to lead them to salvation, which is much more than enlightenment."

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