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As heresies invaded the heart of Christianity, the Church almost came to an end. But God raised up men like Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, who fought with words and with his life against the errors of his time, especially Gnosticism. The Gnostics of the first centuries tried to explain the evil of this world by associating it with the Creator himself, as if a principle of evil had created the material world, from which people needed to free themselves. The practical consequence of this was that human beings were exempted from responsibility: being “imprisoned” in this world, they could not answer for their actions. The Gnostics of the modern world also continue to act in this way, but in a secularized way, without delegating the blame to God, especially because they do not even believe in His existence. Today we no longer speak of an evil world, but of social, ideological or cultural systems that condition the individual to act in evil, exempting him from his responsibilities. This homily was given by Father Paulo Ricardo on June 28, 2023, the memory of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, at the morning Mass at the Cristo Rei Parish, in Várzea Grande (MT).