VATICAN CITY, APR 29, 2004 (VIS) - The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences starts its tenth annual plenary session today in the Vatican on the theme "Intergenerational Solidarity, Welfare and Human Ecology." Mary Ann Glendon, whom the Pope appointed as president on March 9, will preside at the plenary which, on its concluding day, Monday, May 3 will celebrate the academy's tenth anniversary.
Among the participants in the plenary are most of the academy's 33 members, coming from all continents, together with experts in the subject matters under discussion who have been invited to Rome. An audience with the Pope is scheduled for tomorrow.
The Academy was founded by John Paul II in January 1994 to promote the study and progress of social sciences - in particular economy, law, political sciences and sociology - with the purpose of providing elements to the Church to deepen and develop its social doctrine. Immediately after its founding the academy decided to study four principal themes: work and employment, democracy, globalization and intergenerational solidarity.
A communique from the academy notes that the current plenary is the first dedicated to intergenerational solidarity and its objective is to examine the implications in the social, political, economic and environmental fields of the changes in intergenerational relations. The aim of the plenary is to give a clear picture of these changes and to analyze the effects of these changes on the provisions of social services, both in countries where a welfare state is in force and those where this is either minimal or non-existent.
The meeting will look at many questions of Catholic social thought: the concept of solidarity as a virtue, interest in the family as the 'first and most vital cell of society', interest for the weakest and most vulnerable members of the human family, attention to future generations and the principle of subsidiarity.
ACAD-SS/PLENARY/GLENDON VIS 20040429 (310)
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