VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Populorum Progressio" turned 40 this year, and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace thinks it is as valid today as it was four decades ago.
Scholars and experts will gather Nov. 20-24 in Rome to consider the problems and prospects of human development 40 years after "Populorum Progressio," a dicastery communiqué reported. The theme will be considered at the pontifical council's plenary assembly Nov. 20-21 and at the second world congress of ecclesial organizations active in the sector of justice and peace from Nov. 22-24.
According to the communiqué, pontifical council members and consultors "will reflect on the current validity of the historic papal document, with particular emphasis on the moral aspects of development, on new forms of poverty and globalization, on conflicts and disarmament, and on safeguarding and protecting human rights."
Cardinal Renato Martino and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will lead the plenary assembly.
More than 300 delegates from more than 80 countries are expected to participate in the second world congress of ecclesial organizations active in the sector of justice and peace. The specific theme of their meeting will be "The 40th Anniversary of 'Populorum Progressio': The Development of All of Man, the Development of All Mankind."
The congress "will study the new situations that have come into being in the world since the publication of the historic document, and the current challenges of development in the light of the Church's social doctrine, in particular the questions of human ecology, pluralism and intercultural dialogue, and new forms of government in the context of globalization," the communiqué reported. "Particular attention will also be given to the Church's pastoral commitment to integral and solidary development in the world today."
