Rediscover Shame?

In the modern, popularized system of relative morals, what does the idea of shame really mean?  Does it exist among our contemporaries, and if so, is it a mere vestige of Christian roots?  While many like to characterize him as a pope of “peace-love-and-understanding,” Pope Francis recently urged the rediscovery of shame, putting forth its quiet virtue for the individual and society.

But shame is a true Christian virtue, and even human. …You need to stand in front of the Lord “with our truth of sinners.”  …We must never masquerade before God. …This is the virtue that Jesus asks of us: humility and meekness. …I do not know if there is a similar saying in Italian, but in our country [Argentina] those who are never ashamed are called “sin verguenza.” This means “the unashamed,” because they are people who do not have the ability to be ashamed and to be ashamed is a virtue of the humble, of the man and the woman who are humble. …Ask for the grace of shame; the shame that comes from the constant dialogue of mercy with Him; the shame that makes us blush before Jesus Christ; the shame that puts us in tune with the heart of Christ.

Have we become a people without shame?  In a society of radical individualism, the idea of guilt or remorse certainly has the tendency to become a relative, psychological concept.  While Francis has a point, perhaps it is symptomatic of a larger cultural phenomenon.