(Napa Institute. Cardinal Sarah).
I am grateful to meet with you, distinguished guests of the Napa Institute. Mr Busch: thank you for the invitation and the Catholic Information Center for your co-sponsorship. My address – “The Catholic Church’s Enduring Answer to the Practical Atheism of our Age” – reflects well your mission: to prepare leaders to bring truth, faith, and value into the modern world through liturgy, formation, and community. First, however, I would like to say something about the Catholic Church here in the United States. I have had the privilege of traveling to your country many times and I have found it a place of great importance for the universal Church. The United States is part of what is commonly called “the West”. The West, while not the birthplace of Christianity, is the home of much of what was once called Christendom, and much of what has become modern society, the roots of which are firmly European. The cultural, economic, political, and, to a lesser extent, religious identity of America track in broad strokes to that of Europe. While America is the fruit of European faith and enlightenment, nonetheless it is unique in many significant ways. With respect to the Catholicism of the United States, it is well known that Catholics were for a long time a recognizable minority. Catholics went to different churches and schools; they fasted on Fridays; they celebrated the holy days differently; they often lived in ethnic neighborhoods. In short, Catholics were different. Nonetheless, they were also proudly American. Their faith inspired a patriotism. In World War II, Catholics fought and died for freedom alongside their Protestant and Jewish brothers and sisters. It was the faith of Catholics that inspired such sacrifice. They were a religious minority, firm in the faith, even if treated as second class citizens at times, or worse.
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