How Christ’s ambassadors can evangelize a culture in retreat

Catholic professor and evangelist Dr. Ralph Martin will be a featured speaker at the 2021 Legatus Summit West, to be held September 16-18 at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. As president of Renewal Ministries, a Catholic evangelization apostolate, he also hosts a weekly Catholic television program, The Choices We Face, and is author of multiple Catholic books including his most recent, A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. Martin is a founding member of Legatus’ Ann Arbor Chapter and speaks regularly at Legatus events.

Dr. Martin earned a doctorate in theology from the Angelicum University in Rome and serves as director of graduate theology programs in evangelization and as a professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

What will you speak on at this year’s Summit West?

I plan to touch on themes from my new book, A Church in Crisis. Our society is moving from a post-Christian culture to an anti-Christian one, and many Catholics are confused on what to believe. That confusion appears throughout our Church, as we see our bishops and cardinals contradicting one another. I want to do what I can to help people to be clear on what God is revealing to us and help them keep their balance in this time of confusion.
When did the modern Catholic confusion start?

It can be traced back to the Second Vatican Council, which produced many wonderful things, but some took it as an opportunity to change Church teaching to accommodate the culture. Two streams of thought emerged: the authentic spirit of Vatican II, and an effort to accommodate the Church to the culture. While the latter view seemed to have been corrected during the pontificates of Popes St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the confusion has returned in the past seven or eight years. It goes all the way to Rome, which has been sending the world mixed signals.

Why have so many people stopped active participation in the Church?

Pope Benedict pointed out that in our time we have witnessed a catastrophe of catechesis. Young Catholics have not been properly catechized and have a vague understanding of what it is to be a Catholic. The large exodus is a result of that bad catechesis.

Also, the Church has been slow to confront the culture in its challenges to the Catholic faith. When the Church needed to give a clear signal in response to such challenges, there was often a remarkable silence.

Is there a relation between what is going on in today’s culture, and what is happening in the Church?

Absolutely. The culture has been more successful in evangelizing the Church than the Church has been in evangelizing the culture. Those who have power and influence in society—Hollywood, government agencies, corporations, professional sports organizations and the like—advocate an ideology at variance with what God has revealed to us. We are headed toward a difficult time, and the Church needs to wake up.

Don’t we have a U.S. president, a speaker of the House, and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who are Catholic?

Archbishops Charles Chaput, Salvatore Cordileone, Samuel Aquila, and other bishops would argue that most are not real Catholics and should not be presenting themselves for Holy Communion. They instead aggressively advocate for positions opposed to Church teaching.

Why have you devoted your life to evangelization?

I believe the Lord has called me to it. There is nothing more important in life than the salvation of souls, so leading people to heaven is the most important thing I can do.