Strengthen faith, Tagle urges Catholics

MANILA, Philippines - Cardinal-designate Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle yesterday urged Catholics to strengthen their faith and avoid becoming  “practical atheists.“       

Tagle, who returned from Rome last Thursday, presided over the launching of the Year of Faith at the San Fernando de Dilao Parish in Paco, Manila.        

The Catholic Church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and 20 years in the promotion of catechism of the Catholic Church.       

In his homily, Tagle mentioned that Pope Benedict XVI noticed that despite activities that aim to strengthen the people’s faith in the Lord, there are still people in many parts of the world who, instead of living in faith, have become distant.          

The archbishop said Filipinos should not be overly confident that this problem only exists in other countries since there are still many Catholics who attend and profess their faith during Sunday Masses, traditional religious processions and Filipinos show off their devotion during the feasts of the Black Nazarene, Sto. Niño and La Naval. 

“Thank God that the faith is alive but the Pope also says that there is such a thing as practical atheism. There is a kind of atheism that is open, when the people would publicly declare that they do not believe in the existence of God. But there are those who would say that they have faith but in practice it would seem that they also do not have a God,” Tagle said.  “There are people who, with their eyes closed, would fervently pray during Sunday. But come Monday, they would cheat because of money and would step on other people to reach their ambitions in life. For these people, they might be worshipping money, fame or power. There are also those who, when seeing a church, would make the sign of the cross, but nowadays there are those who have given up this practice,” he added.