ABSTRACT

Man is religious by nature and therefore everyone has a religion, no matter how
strange it may be. Even atheists in fact have dogma, morals, rites, prophets, "sacred" books.
An atheist should not be real moral, but all invoke a better morale than that of official
religions. In fact, they are not atheists, but idolaters.
Religion is a relationship with God through sacred mediations. Creator and Almighty
God created men out of their own, in his image. Man seeks in the divine image through the
sacred: priests, sacraments, temples, rituals, sacred books, festivals, etc. But God remains
outside and far away.
In faith we find that God is near, close, he incarnates, he gives us the Holy Spirit: God
is in us and he creates new bonds with us and among us. In Christianity there are both
dimensions: religion and supernatural faith.
The original sin confuses the heart that seeks God, and orientates it to idols, where man seeks
love no longer from God but from men through performance that assures success among
others. Such performance take an absolute value and they become idols. The supernatural gift
recovers religion in its universal validity and elevates it to support the life of faith. Religion
rests on an ecclesial, hierarchical institution that is responsible for sacred performances. In
this task, the Catholic institution can easily lose sight of the main task of supporting the life of
faith and love in accordance with the Gospel.
If that is the case, the thrust of human problems is less likely to come into the
relationship of love that Jesus has come to realize. This has happened extensively in the
history of the Catholic Church. Abandoned by Catholics, human history has seen the
emergence of philosophies, libertarian movements that place history against nature,
historicalisms and false messianisms that have faded culture and politics.