Page 64 - Reflexions of African Bishops and Priests

The Dictatorship

of Relativism

Homily of

Archbishop

Philippe

Ouedraogo

of Burkina Faso

Excerpts from the homily of Most Rev. Philippe tinguish good from evil, truth from falsehood. The con-
Ouedraogo, Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, cept of truth is subject to suspicion. Certainly, there was
given at St. Michael’s Church in Rougemont during our a certain amount of abuse in some periods in the history
week of study, on Sunday, August 28, 2011: of humanity. In the name of truth, we justified intolerance
According to St. Therese of the Child Jesus: “Every- and cruelty. It was a grave error.
thing is grace” and “only God suffices.” And so with St. There are many and complex examples: in a world
Therese, let us make this Eucharistic celebration an act that has become relativistic, a new paganism has taken
of thanksgiving and worship to the Lord, Source and Au- control, more and more, over the thoughts and actions
thor of all good. of man. “The new religion” that is emerging or existing
It is really He who permitted the Institute of Louis is the “religion of civil society” or “the great battle en-
Even for Social Justice to invite us here for this week of gaged by secularism against Christianity” according to
study on economic democracy, seen in the light of the the words of a former president of the Italian Senate. A
Social Doctrine of the Church. new intolerance is spreading, a criteria of thought that
In the name of all participants, notably those of the is well established and imposes codes on everyone. It
is the imperialism of a single way of thinking. Thus, for
family of God in Africa, we express our sincere gratitude example, one cannot have crucifixes in public buildings;
for all the efforts that made our participation possible one wants to force the Church to modify Her position on
and agreeable. May the Lord – Master of the harvest homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, the
– render our work fruitful and strengthen the common ordination of women… in one word, the authentically hu-
good between our churches for the glory of His Name man moral values.
and for the good of humanity!!!
All of these examples tell us that the Church and be-
In his homily for the opening of the Conclave of lievers cannot live their identity; religion, the Catholic
2005, Pope Benedict XVI declared: “We are building a faith, are denied the right to speak in an independent and
dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize any- visible manner.
thing as definitive and whose ultimate standard con-
sists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” (Cf. Benedict It is a genuine tyranny that wishes to impose itself
XVI: Light of the World, Ignatius Press 2011, p. 51.) on the whole world. It is a protection that is absolute and
From this perspective, many people no longer dis- totalitarian; we should consider it as a real enemy of free-

64 Aug. 2011 session www.michaeljournal.org