Tuesday, September 16, 2008

CONGRESS ON EVOLUTION TO BE HELD IN 2009

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2008 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning, the presentation took place of an upcoming international conference entitled: "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories. A Critical Appraisal 150 years after 'The Origin of Species'". The conference is due to be held in Rome from 3 to 7 March 2009.

The congress has been jointly organised by the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, U.S.A., under the patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture and as part of the STOQ Project (Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest).

  Participating in today's press conference were Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Fr. Marc Leclerc S.J., professor of the philosophy of nature at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Gennaro Auletta, scientific director of the STOQ Project and professor of the philosophy of science at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and Alessandro Minelli, professor of zoology at the University of Padua, Italy.

  "Debates on the theory of evolution are becoming ever more heated, both among Christians and in specifically evolutionist circles", Fr. Leclerc explained. "In particular, with the approach of the ... 150th anniversary of the publication of 'The Origin of Species', Charles Darwin's work is still too often discussed more in ideological terms than in the scientific ones which were his true intention".

  "In such circumstances - as Christian scientists, philosophers and theologians directly involved in the debate alongside colleagues from other confessions or of no confession at all - we felt it incumbent upon us to bring some clarification. The aim is to generate wide-ranging rational discussion in order to favour fruitful dialogue among scholars from various fields and areas of expertise. The Church has profound interest in such dialogue, while fully respecting the competencies of each and all. This is, however, an academic congress, organised by two Catholic universities, the Gregorian University in Rome and Notre Dame in the United States, and as such is not an ecclesial event. Yet the patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture serves to underline the Church's interest in such questions".
OP/CONGRESS EVOLUTION/...                    VIS 20080916 (360)


BUILDING A WORLD OF GREATER SOLIDARITY, FREEDOM AND PEACE

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2008 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. has sent a Message, in the Pope's name, to participants in a prayer meeting being held for the opening of the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations.

  The Holy Father, the English-language Message reads, "joins the members of the diplomatic community and U.N. officials present in imploring from Almighty God the guidance and strength needed to carry out the urgent tasks facing the United Nations in the coming months, including the continuing implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the NEPAD programme (New Partnership for Africa's Development), and other initiatives aimed at ensuring that the whole human family shares in the benefits of globalisation.

  "Recalling with gratitude his visit to the General Assembly last April on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, His Holiness renews his appeal to international leaders to re-appropriate the lofty moral vision and the transcendent principles of justice embodied in the United Nations' founding documents.

  "With these sentiments the Holy Father invokes upon all in attendance an abundance of divine blessings, trusting that these moments of reflection and prayer will strengthen them in their commitment to upholding the dignity of each human person and building a world of ever greater solidarity, freedom and peace".
MESS/.../U.N. ASSEMBLY                                VIS 20080916 (230)