Twenty years after then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger cautioned against a “dictatorship of relativism” before becoming Pope Benedict XVI, his former secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, has reiterated that warning at a conference in Lithuania.
Speaking at the annual Šiluva Declaration conference, the former prefect of the papal household drew extensively from Benedict XVI’s teachings on truth, faith, and reason. Gänswein, who now serves as apostolic nuncio to the Baltic states, urged a renewed commitment to objective truth amid growing secularism and moral confusion. The Šiluva Declaration, issued in 2021, promotes human dignity, virtue, family values, and faith in God as foundations for the common good. It has since become a moral touchstone for Catholic thinkers in Lithuania.
In his keynote address, Gänswein warned that separating faith from reason leads to “pathologies and the disintegration of the human person.” He described relativism as “a weak and narrow-minded form of thinking,” born from the “false pride” that humans cannot know truth and the “false humility” that refuses to accept it.
Quoting John 8:32, he reminded attendees, “The truth sets us free,” adding that truth must remain the measure by which humanity understands itself. He called relativism a “creeping poison” that, fueled by self-sufficiency and social media, distorts human freedom and blinds people to their ultimate purpose — knowledge of God and eternal life.
The Šiluva conference, now in its third edition, also featured discussions on Lithuania’s moral and political identity, the challenges facing liberal democracy, and the renewal of Christian values in Europe. Archbishop Kęstutis Kėvalas of Kaunas opened the gathering by urging respect for the natural order established by God, while Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius reminded participants of the Church’s mission to proclaim the truth about humanity and the world — even when it is unpopular.
Organized by the Institute of a Free Society, the Lithuanian Christian Workers’ Trade Union, and Vytautas Magnus University’s Faculty of Catholic Theology, the event reaffirmed the Church’s role as a moral voice in shaping a just and truthful society.
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