Seewald -- "Could you describe this 'strange concensus of modern existence' in greater detail?"

Ratzinger -- "It consists in what I was just alluding to: God doesn't count in man's ethos. Even if He exists, He doesn't have anything to do with us. That is virrtually the universal maxim. He doesn't concern himself with us; we don't concern ourselves with Him. Consequently, the question of eternal life doesn't count either. Responsibility before God and His judgement is replaced with responsibility before history, before humanity. This gives rise to criteria that are definately moral and that can be set forth even with considerable fanaticism, for example, the struggle against overpopulation, which is coupled with the general battle to conserve the biological equilibrium. But at the same time this means that everything is allowed that doesn't compete with these. Because there is no authority to answer to apart from public opinion and it's tribumans (which can be cruel), the motivational power of these ideals in individual lives is often negligible. The thrust of these ideals tends to benefit more those who are far away rather than those who are nearby. Nere at hand, it is frequently egotism that tends to thrive."