The Symposium is organized by the Observer Mission of the Holy See to UNESCO and the John Paul II Foundation (Pontificate Center for Documentation and Research in Rome). Ms Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, is patron of the event. The session will allow us to present John Paul II’s contribution to the debate on contemporary culture. In addition to this, it will also provide an opportunity to reflect on important matters concerning contemporary culture in light of John Paul II’s teachings, especially with regard to the content of the memorable speech he gave at the UNESCO headquarters June 2nd 1980.
At that time, the Pope emphasized that man lives a truly human life through culture. This is possible when the integral vision of man expresses itself in culture as a spiritual and physical essence, of man and woman, and when a cultural understanding includes a religious and moral experience of the human person. Such an understanding of culture forms a kind of “synthesis of spirit and matter” and a “covenant of knowledge and conscience”. Moreover, in the same speech, John Paul II asserted his belief that “the future of humanity depended on culture”.
The lecturers who have been invited to participate in the session represent different disciplines including philosophy, theology, economics, sociology and anthropology. Their presentations will raise issues concerning the condition of contemporary culture and its relationship to Christianity. Pope John Paul II pointed out that the relationship of culture with the Gospel is profoundly culturally-creative; it is not limited to works of art, architecture, education and the development of human thought, but first and foremost is expressed in the concept of man as an intrinsic value, in the affirmation of life and in love, a respect for human rights, and in this a respect for other cultures and religions. It is very important in shaping young people and society and takes into account the transcendent dimension of man and thus his openness to God.
There is a moral dilemma: whether it be having more or being more is, in many cases, being replaced by the imperative to reduce human needs and desires to simple transience. The economy needs culture, said the Pope, to overcome the “crisis of ambition of being a man”, and to also protect the cultural identity of peoples and their rights. Without doubt, today’s youth live in their own “cultural mazes” and in the diktat of modern economic reality, they have a sense of loss which is deepened by the crisis of the family and pervasive relativism. It is important that young people grow up in a culture made up of values and standards from which they can make sense and thus discover the joy of life.
Symposium
John Paul II: A Contemporary Tought for Humanism, Education
and Culture
Wednesday, 13 February 2013, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
UNESCO House, Room II, 125, avenue de Suffren, Paris 7e
Programme
Opening Address by:
– Ms Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General
– His Eminency Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifcal Council for the Laity
and of the John Paul II Foundation
– Msgr Francesco Follo, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to UNESCO
First Part: The Currency of John Paul II’s Thought and Action, from the address by John Paul II
at UNESCO
Msgr Francesco Follo: The Currency of John Paul II’s Thought, from 1980 until Today
– Pr. Fabrice Hadjadj: The Role and the Importance of the Evangelical Values in Today′s Cultur
– Pr. Thomas Hong-Soon Han: The Economy and the Integral Developement of the Human Being
Second Part: Education and Culture
– Pr. Rossana Reguillo Cruz: The Youth in the Labyrinth of Modern Culture
– Pr. Rev. Jozef Z. Kijas, O.F.M. Conv.: The Necessity of Education of Human Being
to Transcendental Dimension
– Sr. Geneviève Médevielle, S.A.: Woman′s Dignity and Education in John Paul II’s Teaching
Conclusion by
– His Eminency Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris
To participate in the symposium, please, contact the organizers before February 7th 2013.
Te email: evenement.va@unesco-delegations.org, tel.: +33 (0)1 45 68 33 50