Papal Envoy on the Eucharist's Guarantee - Interview With Cardinal Tomko

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, OCT. 14, 2004 (Zenit) - Cardinal Jozef Tomko, John Paul II's special envoy to the International Eucharistic Congress, granted this interview to US at the Theological Pastoral Symposium that preceded the congress.

Q: After hearing the reports on the way the faithful live the Eucharist worldwide, what do you consider to be the common problems in respect of the Eucharist?

Cardinal Tomko: There are a series of common problems, but we have also seen that there is faith. Faith in the Eucharist is a guarantee of the future.

We have seen that wherever the Eucharist is found there is hope: There is no war, no violence, because the Eucharist is the highest experience of Love. It is God who loves man with the heart of a man. This transforms reality completely.

Q: [Some cardinals] have spoken of visible processes of secularization.

Cardinal Tomko: Of course there are problems, especially in Europe, in particular those derived from "privatism" and secularism. However there are also meetings, such as this one, which are promoting further development of the theological doctrine on the Eucharist in the world; moments to continue reflection which allow one to discover that the Eucharist is not only for the Church but for humanity.

Q: In a recent interview, you said that the Eucharist is "the testing ground of the faith." Can you explain this further?

Cardinal Tomko: There is at present: a process of radical secularization. There are not more atheists than in the past, I mean, more militant atheists. In the past there was more clarity. People would say: God does not exist, and that was it.

Now, there are people who do not ask themselves if God does or does not exist. God is a category that is completely outside of their lives. We are witnessing a "privatism" which consists in the marginalization of God, religion, faith.

Q: Would the antidote be to revitalize the practice of the Eucharist?

Cardinal Tomko: Faith in the Eucharist is not an easy faith. One cannot use the criterion of knowledge through contact or the experience of the Presence. It is pure faith. This is why I said that the Eucharist is "the testing ground of faith," of our faith. If there is no faith in the Eucharist it is because an approach is lacking to the mystery of the faith.

Q: And is not the fight against Christian values also part of this process of secularization?

Cardinal Tomko: Today, Christian values are fought against, not realizing that they are fully human values. The Holy Father has said it: What is authentically Christian is also authentically human.

This very day, the Church is the only institution that defends the values of man. She does so knowing that to defend the values of God is to defend the values of man.

Q: Is it possible to speak, as many do, of a crisis of the Church?

Cardinal Tomko: The crisis consists, rather, in the rejection of the Church, because when man rejects God, man is also rejected.

However, the non-religious man feels the need to transcend. Man does not save himself. How can the void be filled that many have in their hearts today? This is the task of the Church and of catechesis.

Contact

Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org CA, US
Catholic Online - Publisher, 661 869-1000

Email

info@yourcatholicvoice.org

Keywords

Eucharist, Sacraments, Church, Tomko, Mass

More Catholic PRWire

Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »

A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain

Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul

A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell

My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz

Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell

Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online

Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online

Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online

State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online

Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online

2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online

Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online

Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online

Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online

Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online

Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online

Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online

Full Circle
Robert Gieb

Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite

Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony

Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell

World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online

Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA

Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online

A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe

Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly

Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard

The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely

Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow

A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow

Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea

Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard

Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol

Edging God Out
Paul Sposite

Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow

George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online

Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell

Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey

Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite

Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol

Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol

Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online

Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online

Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online

Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online

Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online

Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online

Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »