Pope Urges Search for Meaning amid Modern-Day Maelstrom

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YOU CAN never tell with the present Pope. Just when the pundits were predicting another crackdown on free speech within the Catholic Church he has come up with an encyclical to mark his 20th year in office - today - which does almost the exact opposite.

Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) examines the relationship of philosophy and theology from Plato to the present day and delivers an impassioned plea for secular thinkers to consider the great metaphysical issues that modern philosophy has virtually abandoned.

Homo sapiens may be defined as a creature who desires to know, John Paul II says. Human beings want answers to questions like: Who am I? Where have I come …