Santi Taboada
What value does human action have in the world? And is technological progress incompatible with faith? Pope Leo XIV addressed these questions during his General Audience.
POPE LEO XIV
Individual and collective human activity, that is, the immense effort through which people, over the centuries, have sought to improve their
living conditions, is in accordance with God’s will.
The Pope stressed that it is God who gives people the freedom and intelligence to learn, progress and improve their lives. These abilities allow humanity to go further and achieve what once seemed impossible.
POPE LEO XIV
We may recall that, less than four years after the Council concluded, on the night of July 20–21, 1969, man would set foot on the Moon for the first time.
The idea that God wants humanity to progress and that people can work alongside Him has been rejected by many thinkers.
POPE LEO XIV
In post-Christian humanism, human beings and God are erroneously presented as rivals: in order to assert his knowledge, freedom, and progress, man must free himself from God. Ultimately, however, by denying his relationship with God, he also loses the possibility of affirming the transcendent value of the human person. This is the “tragedy of atheistic humanism.”
Pope Leo also used the audience to recall the upcoming beatification of Fulton Sheen in St. Louis. He stressed that people should not abandon their daily work and responsibilities, but instead live them fully and make them holy.
