Relativism and consumerism go hand in hand: Joseph Ratzinger He said it on several occasions, arguing how the second is a direct consequence of the first.

The Pope Emeritus has not spoken publicly for some time now. However, given the former ruler’s devotion to his worldview, we can take into account Benedict XVI’s reflection on the meaning of the Christmas holiday. The reason, for the former bishop of Rome, can be found to spread Consumer, which is an effect as mentioned. It was 2005 and the Bavarian “moderate theologian” was still at the helm of the university catholic church. A few weeks before Christmas, Benedict XVI criticized “commercial pollution”. Covid-19 had not yet appeared and the world had fewer problems to indulge in festive madness.

The problems today look different: the pandemic has even succeeded in undermining the Christmas tradition itself. Also this year, between canceled cribs and various restrictions, we don’t have full access. Think, for example, of the lack of pilgrims in Israel, where only residents have the right to go to the symbolic places of Christianity. These will be key days for one of the religious sects that gave birth to the West and for its importance. But the historical moment is what it is.

What Ratzinger said on birthday However, it is still carved in stone. As every year, as this period approaches, analyzes and counter-analyses emerge on the intellectual and theological legacy of the Pope Emeritus. Among those who jumped into the news these days, one can focus on published article Give sun 24 hours: This is an in-depth study based on one of the many “prophecies” that Benedict XVI distributed when he was just appointed professor of theology. Thus, amid the need to ensure that “commodification” is now the absolute protagonist of human existence and the imperative of belonging to the contemporary, a young priest criticized “consumer civilization”, likening it to risky. Processing. These are words the Catholic Church has not ceased to utter, albeit in different ways.

What does that mean after all Pope Francesco, when he cried that “To maintain harmony in the family, the dictatorship of the self must be fought“Individualism, which is a relative of consumerism, passes through relativism: even in Ratzinger this was often evident. During this year’s Christmas celebrations, it is so,” said Bergoglio.Dangerous when we blame ourselves for mistakes rather than listen to ourselves; When, instead of gestures of attention to others, we fix ourselves in our own needs; When, instead of talking, we isolate ourselves with the mobile phone, it is bad to see everyone at the table with their mobile phones, talking into their mobiles …. “.

The former pope called for the questioning of cultural phenomena and their perversions, and Bergoglio, a theology of the people, addressed the world in less eschatological words but not without philosophical weight: Ratzinger’s consumerism is, for Bergoglio, a symbol, namely Mobile phone. But if the “language” is different, the message on the occasion of the holidays is the same: that call to fight an individualistic existence.