A sessant’anni dall’Enclicica “Peace in Terris” di Giovanni XXIII, Caritas Ambrosiana and the Migrant and Missionary Pastoral Offices of the diocese of Milan are promoting a moment of reflection on Saturday 18 February, both face-to-face and via streaming
A reflection on the theme of peace and war between forgotten conflicts and foreign policy strategies. This is the aim of the global conference to be held on Saturday 18 February, from 9.30 to 13, at the Istituto dei Ciechi (via Vivaio 7, Milan).
“The initiative – say the organizers – aims to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the encyclical “Pacem in terris” (published on 11 April 1963), highlighting the relevance of the principles indicated by Pope John XXIII even in a world, that of today, marked no longer by the opposition between ideological and military blocs, but by a plurality of conflicts relating to geopolitical logics, economic interests and control of resources that must be studied and decoded. Know the contents and objectives of the diplomatic action of the Church in the complex context of international relations; probing the profound reasons underlying individual emerging conflicts; understanding whether international institutions can be reformed to become a place of authentic and unarmed multilateral settlement of wars: these are the objectives of the reports that will animate the conference”.
After the introductory greeting by Msgr. Luca Bressan, Episcopal Vicar for Culture, Charity, Mission and Social Action in the Diocese, will intervene: Father Antonio Spadaro, director of “La Civiltà Cattolica”, Marco Tarquinio, director of “Avvenire”, and Sandro Calvani, former Italian official at the UN. This will be followed by a round table with Father Aurelio Gazzera, a Carmelite missionary in the Central African Republic, Marta Aspesi, a worker in Haiti with Luisa Dell’Orto, the nun from Lecco killed last June in the Caribbean capital where she had been on a mission for twenty years, and Francesca Benigno, desk officer of New Humanity International in Myanmar. Concluding greeting from the Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini. Moderator: Luicia Capuzzi, journalist of “Avvenire”.
«We are interested – observes Luciano Gualzetti, director of Caritas Ambrosiana – above all in decoding today’s scenarios, to update and relaunch the culture and thought of peace and non-violence, heritage of the history of Caritas Ambrosiana. We also intend to calibrate ever better the peace actions that we carry out and support in many places of conflict in the world, to try to sow seeds of fraternity and create conditions of lasting coexistence and reconciliation, capable of concrete fruits for the life and future of many people and many communities”.
Don Alberto Vitali, head of the pastoral care of migrants explains: «A conference not so much to celebrate but to stimulate the re-reading of “Pacem in terris”, an encyclical which, after sixty years, retains all its vitality because it is capable of generating future. In fact, it not only contains the famous condemnation of war that everyone repeats, but above all it offers a method of building peace, based on the reciprocity of rights and duties proper to the nature of individuals and communities. And it indicates paths of stability in the interweaving of social relations and political institutions».
Don Maurizio Zago, head of missionary pastoral care concludes: «60 years after John XXIII’s “Pacem in Terris” isn’t it disturbing to still reflect on this anniversary? There is a perverse bliss in those who sow death and destruction, at every level. And there is an indifference, which contributes to that culture of death, in those who, feeling well, think that freedom and justice and truth can grow without the direct responsibility of each one. To trace a path of responsibility in building peace, the only one that offers bliss, this year’s Global Conference intends to offer its own contribution».
AND enrollment required both to participate in the presence (Click here), and to follow the live streaming (Click here).