Godless societies risk ‘nihilism’—pope

VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday told pilgrims assembled in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican that modern societies are threatened by “nihilism” when they abandon religious faith.

“Where God disappears, man becomes a slave of idolatry, as the era of totalitarian regimes showed… and as shown by different forms of nihilism that make man dependent on idols,” Benedict said.

Modern-day “idols” condemned by the Catholic Church include consumerism, hedonism and greed. The Vatican considers these a subtle form of totalitarianism comparable to Nazism and Stalinism.