7. Mingled with these and other positive factors, there are
also, however, many problematic or negative elements.
Rationalism is still very widespread and, in the name of a
reductive concept of "science," it renders human reason insensitive
to an encounter with revelation and with divine transcendence.
We should take note also of a desperate defense of personal
subjectivity which tends to close it off in individualism, rendering it
incapable of true human relationships. As a result, many - especially children
and young people - seek to compensate for this loneliness with substitutes of
various kinds, in more or less acute forms of hedonism or flight from
responsibility. Prisoners of the fleeting moment, they seek to
"consume" the strongest and most gratifying individual experiences at
the level of immediate emotions and sensations, inevitably finding themselves
indifferent and "paralyzed" as it were when they come face to face
with the summons to embark upon a life project which includes a spiritual and
religious dimension and a commitment to solidarity.
Furthermore, despite the fall of ideologies which had made
materialism a dogma and the refusal of religion a program, there is spreading
in every part of the world a sort of practical and existential atheism which
coincides with a secularist outlook on life and human destiny. The individual,
"all bound up in himself, this man who makes himself not only the center
of his every interest, but dares to propose himself as the principle and reason
of all reality,"(12) finds himself ever more bereft of that
"supplement of soul" which is all the more necessary to him in
proportion - as a wide availability of material goods and resources deceives
him about his self - sufficiency. There is no longer a need to fight against
God; the individual feels he is simply able to do without him.
In this context special mention should be made of the
breakup of the family and an obscuring or distorting of the true meaning of
human sexuality. That phenomena have a very negative effect on the education of
young people and on their openness to any kind of religious vocation.
Furthermore, one should mention the worsening of social injustices and the
concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, the fruit of an inhuman
capitalism(13) which increasingly widens the gap between affluent and indigent
peoples. In this way tension and unrest are introduced into everyday life,
deeply disturbing the lives of people and of whole communities.
There are also worrying and negative factors within the
Church herself which have a direct influence on the lives and ministry of
priests. For example: the lack of due knowledge of the faith among many
believers; a catechesis which has little practical effect, stifled as it is by
the mass media whose messages are more widespread and persuasive; an
incorrectly understood pluralism in theology, culture and pastoral teaching which
- though starting out at times with good intentions - ends up by hindering
ecumenical dialogue and threatening the necessary unity of faith; a persistent
diffidence toward and almost unacceptance of the magisterium of the hierarchy;
the one - sided tendencies which reduce the richness of the Gospel message and
transform the proclamation and witness to the faith into an element of
exclusively human and social liberation or into an alienating flight into
superstition and religiosity without God.
A particularly important phenomenon, even though it is
relatively recent in many traditionally Christian countries, is the presence
within the same territory of large concentrations of people of different races
and religions, thereby resulting in multiracial and multi - religious
societies. While on the one hand this can be an opportunity for a more frequent
and fruitful exercise of dialogue, open - mindedness, good relations and a just
tolerance - on the other hand the situation can also result in confusion and relativism,
above all among people and populations whose faith has not matured.
Added to these factors, and closely linked with the growth
of individualism, is the phenomenon of subjectivism in matters of faith. An
increasing number of Christians seem to have a reduced sensitivity to the
universality and objectivity of the doctrine of the faith because they are
subjectively attached to what pleases them; to what corresponds to their own
experience; and to what does not impinge on their own habits. In such a context,
even the appeal to the inviolability of the individual conscience - in itself a
legitimate appeal - may be dangerously, marked by ambiguity.
This situation also gives rise to the phenomenon of
belonging to the Church in ways which are ever more partial and conditional,
with a resulting negative influence on the birth of new vocations to the
priesthood, on the priest's own self - awareness and on his ministry within the
community.
Finally, in many parts of the Church today it is still the
scarcity of priests which creates the most serious problem. The faithful are
often left to themselves for long periods, without sufficient pastoral support.
As a result their growth as Christians suffers, not to mention their capacity
to become better promoters of evangelization.
