INTRODUCTION

by

His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal

DARÍO CASTRILLÓN HOYOS

Prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy

THE CHURCH, THE NEW AGE PHENOMENON AND SECTS

"We are called atheists. And we certainly acknowledge this: we are atheists, regards to these false gods, but not regards to the supremely true God, Father of justice, wisdom and other virtues, with no mixture with evil whatsoever". Seventeen centuries have gone by since Justin, the jurist and martyr, wrote these words in his first Apologia (see no. 6,1-2): today the supremely true, alethes tátou, transcendent and personal God, who made Himself fully manifest in Christ, is still thwarted, refused and at times mocked by those who, in the name of a humanism without transcendence, expect to be free from all dependence and elect themselves to freedom with no limitations, proclaiming themselves the only authors of their destinies.

Among other elements, at the basis of humankind’s current bewilderment – appearing not to feel God’s closeness – we also discover the attempt promoted above all by this so-called post-Christian western culture to create a anthropocentrism supported by the idols of ancient pre-Christian and neo-pagan religions. The origins of such attempts are multiple ones. Many people, pervaded by scientism and pragmatic materialism feel seriously ill at ease due to the loss of life’s meaning, disillusioned by the promises of certainty that science has been unable to offer. Moreover, in environments in which uncontrolled individualism is widespread, the feeling develops that Christianity is no longer capable of quenching the human heart’s profound thirst for happiness, a heart filled with the anguish of daily existence and dissatisfied with the answers provided by a technicist society.

"What point is there in travelling to the moon, if it is to commit suicide?" This immensely profound question posed by André Malreaux, in his book entitled "La condition humaine" (Paris, Gallimard, 1999), questions human man’s Promethean will. Once one would say: "Man acts, and in acting becomes". The West’s heirs of this computerised era know that humankind risks disintegration, and that the acceleration of life’s rhythms, the accumulation of information and the spasmodic search for success easily lead humankind to disintegration.

And so after the past century, once again the phenomenon of sects and in particular the New Age current are reappearing on the world scene: these are old and new cultural and religious forms claiming to provide answers for humankind’s most ancients hope, the hope of a new era, an era of peace, harmony, reconciliation with oneself and with others and with nature.

It is precisely this phenomenon - that of humankind’s irrepressible nostalgia for happiness, this citizen of the third millennium, materially satisfied but spiritually arid, and for the proactive apostasy from Christ promoted by New Age and by sects – that we wish to discuss during today’s twenty sixth international theological Videoconference. The subject in fact is: "The Church, New Age and sects".

Following the fecund wake traced by the Teachings of the Church and in particular by the Second Vatican Council, which dedicated to this subject an important part of the pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Congregation intends to offer today, a privileged opportunity for analysing in-depth the theological meditation on the specific reality of a new secular, esoteric and planetary religious culture, promoted by the New Age movement and by sects, sadly committed to creating a anthropology without Christ.

The various speeches by the Theologians will remind us that the spirituality of the eastern religions, initial heterodox Gnosticism, religious syncretism, esoteric cults, the cabala, alchemy and astrology, have united in a vain effort to place the western human being at the absolute centre of reality, making him a fetish, an idol artificially occupying Christ’s position, that of He who is the real God and man, Lord of the Universe and history, of which He is the "Alfa and the Omega" (Ap 1,8; 21,6), "the Beginning and the End" (Ap 21,6).

In this session we will refer to the many pleas the Holy Father continues to address to all the Church’s members, called upon to answer in the faith the search for meaning and liberation: it is necessary to provide the third millennium’s man with a living testimony of the Gospel’s eternal novelty, explaining through catechesis and preaching the contents of the Apocalypse and the articles of the Credo on "the resurrection of the flesh and eternal life" (see John Paul II, Speech to the Bishops of the United States, of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska on the occasion of their "Ad Limina" visit on May 28th 1993).

This was confirmed also recently by the Holy Father in the Post-synod Apostolic Exhortations

"Ecclesia in America" dated 22.1.1999 (see no. 73) and "Ecclesia in Europa" dated 22.6.2003 (see

nos. 7-11). "Be confident! In the Gospel, which is Jesus, you will find the sure and lasting hope to

which you aspire. This hope is grounded in the victory of Christ over sin and death. He wishes this

victory to be your own, for your salvation and your joy.

Be certain! The Gospel of hope does not disappoint!" (Eccelsia in Europa, no. 121).

As always I wish to thank those invited, reminding you all that they will speak live from ten countries in five continents. Meditations will be held from Rome, from the Seat of the Congregation for the Clergy, by Cardinal Professor George Cottier, by H. E. Professor Rino Fisichella, by Professor Jean Galot and by Professor Paolo Scarafoni.

There will also be speeches from New York by Professor Michael Hull, from Manila by Professor José Vidamor Yu; from Taiwan by Professor Louis Aldrich; from Johannesburg by Professor Stuart Bate; from Bogotá by Professor Silvio Cajiao; from Regensburg by H. E. Professor Gerhard Ludwig Müller; from Sydney by H. E. Professor Gregory Dewery; from Madrid by Professor Alfonso Carrasco Rouco; and from Moscow by Professor Igor Kowalewsky. I hope you all enjoy the conference.