FAITH & CULTURE. ANTHOLOGY OF TEXTS, LEO XIII TO JOHN PAUL II

VATICAN CITY, DEC 11, 2003 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, there was the presentation of the book, 'Faith and Culture. An Anthology of Texts of the Pontifical Magisterium from Leo XIII to John Paul II,' published by the Pontifical Council for Culture. Cardinal Paul Poupard, Frs. Bernard Ardura, O. Praem., Fabio Duque Jaramillo, O.F.M., and Javier Magdaleno Cueva, respectively president, secretary, undersecretary, and official of the council, spoke during the press conference.

Cardinal Poupard said that this volume of more than 1,500 pages covers a great variety of topics of the pontifical magisterium over the course of more than one hundred years: 'From art to technology, ideologies to the family, from sports to politics, universities to cultural identity, from globalization to inculturation.'

This book is meant to serve as a source of reference for episcopal conferences, cultural commissions as well as researchers at universities and institutes in theology, the religious sciences, and professors in the faculties of philosophy, theology, social sciences, education and at seminaries.

In his presentation, Fr. Ardura said that 'the popes, in a span of one hundred years, have been witnesses and protagonists in significant evolution in the field of culture and its relationship with the Christian faith, departing from the concept of 'civilization' in order to achieve a more complete understanding of the human person with the concept of 'culture'.'

Fr. Duque Jaramillo indicated that 'the present anthology is the result of ten years of work' and 'reveals the dynamic understanding that the Church has of the cultural dimension of evangelization. ' This anthology is a true and authentic invitation to verify the development of a passionate dialogue between the message and the person of Jesus Christ and the hopes and desires of modern generations.'

Fr. Javier Magdaleno referred to the volume's many indexes. The first index, he said, 'presents an overall view of the pastoral care for culture.' It is divided into three major sections: faith and cultures: guidelines, challenges and reference points, and concrete proposals. The thematic index includes 'the texts of the magisterium with reference to an identified concept or word in alphabetic order.' The third index 'lists 1,266 different pontifical texts, classified under the name of the pope that wrote them.'
Keys: ;BOOK FAITH; CULTURE;...;POUPARD ;VIS;20031211;Word: 390;