Pope Benedict XVI made the following comments as he prepared to receive Bishops from all around the world arriving for a conference on the relevance of the Bible in the modern contemporary church:
“Today, nations once rich in faith and vocations are losing their own identity, under the harmful and destructive influence of a certain modern culture.”
According to the Pope, modern culture is pushing God out of people’s lives and bringing a decline in religious faith and causing many nations to lose their Christian identity.
Response: The Pope is known to be particularly concerned about the decline of Christianity in Europe and is hoping to encourage the Europeans to make more room for Christianity in their secular societies.
The whole purpose of the Bishops conference is to explore and reconcile issues that relate to Bible interpretation and modern science. It will be interesting to see the documents and reactions coming out of this Synod of Bishops.