Bishop José Ignacio Munilla was among the speakers featured at the 2024 Conference on Catholics and Public Life Nov. 15–17, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of the Catholic Association of Propagandists (Advocates)

Madrid, Spain, Nov 19, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, described socialism as an ideology that is an “enemy of the cross” at the Conference on Catholics and Public Life organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists (Advocates) this past weekend.

During his talk titled “Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty,” Munilla pointed out that “we cannot confront this attack and this systematic imposition of a new society only with criticism and new political leadership, but rather a movement of converts is required. We will only get out of this crisis through a renewal of holiness.”

He also maintained that society needs a “change of worldview in which we go from being enemies of the cross to being the people of the cross” because, he emphasized, “without the cross there is no glory; it’s a great mistake to make a dichotomy between the cross and happiness; the cross leads us to glory, and glory is complete happiness.”

In this context, he described socialism as an “ideology that is an enemy of the cross” whose sociological and political currents have become “the grave of peoples, in which the ‘nanny state’ solves all the problems,” without appealing to the sacrifice and commitment of individuals.

As a result, an “anthropological crisis is being created, raising it to the level of law and supreme precept, which seeks to rebel against the natural order, turning wounds into rights instead of accepting emotional wounds, the fruit of the disintegration of the family.”

The bishop added that “we are trying to compensate for the inner emptiness of man with consumerism and materialism; fleeing from affective commitment and from opening up to the gift of life; and suffering is being treated as something incompatible with human dignity: This world suffers so much for not wanting to suffer, for escaping from the cross of Christ.”

Hadjadj: Facing uncertainty is a life-or-death challenge

For his part, French philosopher Fabrice Hadjadj addressed the general theme of the conference, “Quo Vadis? Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty,” appealing for each person to get involved: “Where are you going? Not ‘where is the world going,’ since with this question one can be a spectator and can be content with complaining.”

Hadjadj pointed out that living in a time of uncertainty “is not just any challenge” but rather a challenge that is configured as a question “if not of honor, at least of life or death.” To do so, it is necessary “to have a healed soul, to accept having a body bruised by martyrdom.”

At the same time, he pointed out that it is inevitable to experience “the least confessable emotion: fear. Not so much the fear of dying, but the fear of living up to the challenge, the fear of maintaining our reputation for being alive.”

In postmodern Europe, this challenge is embodied in a continent, a society that “despairs of what is human and tends today to constitutionalize abortion and euthanasia; to revise colonial history, lumping together the conqueror and the missionary.”

These are demands “that many imagine to be linked to the affirmation of individual freedom and, in reality, they emanate from the death of aspiring. They correspond to the agitation of despair,” the philosopher pointed out.

Ayaan Hirsi: The less Christian presence, the greater the crisis

The conference also featured the participation of human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who stressed that “the less presence there is of Christianity in society,” the greater the social crisis in the West.

In her presentation, titled “Free to Seek the Truth,” Hirsi explained that multiculturalism and globalization are “two sides of the same coin.”

On the one hand, there is a “retribalization of society, with the growth of identity groups “who have no national loyalty to the country they call home.” On the other, there is the evaporation of a set of shared values, the fragmentation of society, and the ethnicization and racialization of all political issues.

Hirsi denounced the “atrocious restrictions on freedom of expression, religion, and the resurgence of a [socially] acceptable and legitimate racism against whites and against Jews in Europe and in America in the name of intersectional social justice.”

She also warned of the proliferation of “pseudo religions that present themselves as equal or superior to Christianity itself” as well as the appeal of “ideas that challenge reality” such as “the existence of multiple genders.”

These trends, in her opinion, create an increasing difficulty in teaching children the difference between good and evil. At the university, the search for truth is replaced “by the development of narratives,” while “the search for excellence through merit is branded as an enemy of diversity.”

“If this trend continues, it will mark the beginning of the downfall,” she emphasized.

Recovering a strong and reliable Christianity 

For Hirsi, “we must recover a strong and reliable Christianity. Churches must stop adopting every new fad and revive the true message and teachings of Christ.”

She also called for “resisting the ongoing demographic decline” in Europe by making it attractive for young people to marry and have a family. She also called for schools, universities, and the arts to recognize “their role in promoting the Christian ethos that led to the formation of the institutions that make the West extraordinary.”

“None of these changes can be achieved if we do not organize, participate, and mobilize to achieve a strong majority that participates and acts. Only by recovering a sense of unity based on common values ​​and not on differences will we be able to build stronger and more cohesive societies in these uncertain times,” she concluded.

Presence of young people at the conference

The 26th Conference on Catholics and Public Life sought to reach out to young people in particular, offering some specific opportunities, such as a roundtable with digital missionaries.

It was attended by 1,000 young people from different Spanish cities who heard testimonies and encouragement from three evangelizers on social media: Carlos Taracena, Carla Restoy, and Irene Alonso, among others.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.