Cardinal Sarah: ‘Paganization’ Threatens Future of European Christendom

A leading African Cardinal visited Washington, DC this June seeking to address how Roman Catholics can best engage on the liberalizing social trends within the Church, particularly in the United States and the West more broadly.

Bishop Cardinal Robert Sarah’s June 13 talk, “The Catholic Church’s Enduring Answer to the Practical Atheism of Our Age,” offered a defense of traditional Roman Catholic teachings, while warning against liberalizing values that have taken hold in European and western nations.

A social conservative on religious teachings including marriage, sexual ethics and morality, Sarah is regarded as among potential selections to serve as the next Pope. He serves as Prefect emeritus of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a dicastery of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices.

Speaking at the invitation of the Napa Institute and the Catholic Information Center in Washington D.C, the Archbishop’s talk was hosted at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the campus of the Catholic University of America.

Sarah warned the audience of the dangers of not solely cultural leftism, but also the casualty and ‘practicality,’ of placing the Catholic faith aside, and failing to position Catholicism as the central tenet of one’s identity and faith.

The Archbishop emeritus of Conakry (Guinea) explained how the tenants of ‘practical atheism,’ do not explicitly reject the supremacy of Christ, but rather promote a lukewarm version of Christianity that does not place God at the center of daily life and the universe. He explained the danger of liberalization and increasing “paganization,” expressing concern for the future and direction of European Christendom.

Sarah labeled U.S. President Joe Biden a “Cafeteria Catholic,” who has supported legal abortion in explicit opposition to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. In contrast, Sarah referenced the teachings of Pope John Paul II, firm in his warning of the “tenets of practical atheism” found in the Fides et ratio outlined by the former pope.

The African Archbishop also outlined the importance and teaching of Pope Benedict XVI, who first formally mentioned the term “Practical Atheism” in a speech given near St. Peter’s Square. In that speech, Pope Benedict made clear the dangers of atheism.

“A particularly dangerous phenomenon for faith has arisen in  our times: indeed, a form of atheism exists which we define,  precisely, as ‘practical’, in which the truths of faith or religious  rites are not denied but are merely deemed irrelevant to daily  life, detached from life, pointless,” Sarah quoted from a 2012 address by Pope Benedict. “So it is that people often  believe in God in a superficial manner, and live ‘as though God did not exist’ (etsi Deus non daretur).”

Sarah used the example to explain how a lukewarm version of Catholicism, or what he defined as “practical atheism,” was seeping into the Church. 

Sarah’s warnings were not all negative: he proclaimed hope for the future of the Catholic faith. However, he explained that to reach societal purity and fulfillment, we must turn towards Christ, creating Christ the center of our religious and spiritual lives, centering ourselves within the Catholic faith.

The Archbishop insisted that, while Christendom in Europe is dying, America is young, energetic, and has potential for the future of Christendom.

“America is big and powerful politically, economically, and culturally. With this comes great responsibility,” Sarah noted. “Imagine what  could happen if America were to become home to even more vibrant Catholic communities! The faith of Europe is dying or dead. The Church needs to draw life from places like Africa and America where the faith is not dead.”

Additionally, he explained that in contrast to the materialism and “practical atheism,” of the Godless western world, the African continent is young, people are deeply devout in their beliefs and personal faith. In this sense, he declared that Africa represents the “lungs” of Christianity and the future of Christendom.

Sarah has a unique backstory, hailing from Guinea in West Africa. All prior pontiffs in the past 1,300 years except for Pope Francis – who is Argentinian – have hailed from Europe. Italy has overwhelmingly produced the most popes, with France a close second, largely due to the Avignon Papacy.

The African cardinal has had a distinguished career throughout his time in Africa as well as Europe and the United States. Educated in the Catholic tradition in the Ivory Coast, Sarah later moved back to Guinea upon achieving independence. Later, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem. Under Pope John Paul II, Sarah was elevated to Archbishop of Conakry, and was known as “the baby bishop” as one of the youngest bishops in the world when consecrated at 34 years of age. Additionally, he served as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum under Pope Benedict XVI. Sarah later became prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments under Pope Francis.