The origin of the current crisis of the West is a loss of confidence in the truth, says Pope Benedict XVI.  In his homily, at the Marian shrine of Mariazell in Austria, he explained that Jesus alone "is the bridge that truly brings God and man together ... the one universal mediator of salvation, valid for everyone and, ultimately, needed by everyone."

Saying this, the Pontiff explained, "does not mean that we despise other religions, nor are we arrogantly absolutizing our own ideas."