Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity and Islam - Hardcover

Ratzinger, Joseph; Pera, Marcello

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465006345 ISBN 13: 9780465006342

Publisher: Basic Books, 2006

Synopsis

Pope Benedict XVI joins the former President of the Italian Senate to offer a provocative critique of the spiritual, cultural and political crisis afflicting the West. On May 12th 2004, Pope Benedict XVI - then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - addressed the Italian Senate on the state of the West. The very same day, Marcello Pera, President of the Italian Senate spoke before the Lateran College of the Papal University. Together they called upon the West to confront the spiritual, cultural and political malaise that have afflicted in the earliest years of the 21st century. In the months that ensued, before Cardinal Ratzinger's election to the papacy, they developed their ideas into the eloquent dialogue that is Without Roots - a book that quickly became an Italian bestseller and is timelier today than ever. Europe, contends Ratzinger, has come to a point where it has a "crisis of its circulatory system". Low birthrates are creating a vacuum that is being filled by transplanted populations whose presence is a challenge to Europe's identity and could become a threat to European democracy. Alongside this, Europe is being shaken by the war in Iraq, terrorism, security issues, Israel, relationships with the US, and by the rejection of the EU constitution in both France and the Netherlands. Europe's failure to secure its future is mirrored by an abandonment of its spiritual roots in the interests of relativist secularism. What do human rights, civility, tolerance and equality before the law mean in such a culturally diverse population? How, they argue, do we organise ourselves and live together, define our national identity, create public policy, in a society in which any notion of "truth" implies an unacceptable imposition of someone's "values" on someone else. At this moment of crisis in European identity, the authors ultimately call on Europeans and the West in general to accept that only a spiritual rather than political renewal will help us to make sense of changes in technology, economics and society for the good of all.

About this title

Product Description:

On May 12, 2004, Pope Benedict XVI - then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger-addressed the Italian Senate on the state of the West; the very same day, Joseph Pera, President of the Italian Senate, spoke before the Lateran College of the Papal University. Together they called upon the West to confront the spiritual, cultural, and political malaise that have afflicted it in the earliest years of the 21st century. In the months that ensued, before Cardinal Ratzinger s election to the papacy, they developed their ideas into the eloquent dialogue that is Without Roots - a book that quickly became an Italian bestseller and is even more timely today than ever. With Europe shaken by the war in Iraq, terrorism, security, Israel, relations with the U.S., immigration, and the rejection of the EU constitution in both France and the Netherlands, the issue of European identity has profound implications for the rest of the world. Bringing together their unique vantage points as leaders of Church and State, Pope Benedict XVI and Pera challenge us to imagine what can be the future of a civilization that has abandoned its history for a relativist secularism. They call on the West to embrace a spiritual rather than political renewal-and to accept the moral beliefs that alone can help us to make sense of changes in technology, economics, and society. Pope Benedict XVI joins the President of the Italian Senate to offer a provocative critique of the spiritual, cultural, and political crisis afflicting the West.

Review:

"(A) thoughtful history lesson about what European/American civilization consists of, with some striking comments on the Spengler-Toynbee debate." The Spectator"

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0465006345
• ISBN 13: 9780465006342
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208