• Sr Dominica Dipio, MSMMC, professor of literature at the Makerere University of Kampala,
• Uganda; Sr Mariella Mascitelli, PDDM, an architect specialising in architecture and art for the liturgy, Italy;
• Maud de Beauchesne-Cassanet, head of the Department of Religious Art of the Bishops' Conference of France, and
• Sr Pat Murray Secretary of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG).

The Pontifical Council for Culture traces its origins back to the Second Vatican Council. It was established as part of the Church's response to the need to continually engage with the cultures of the world.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravesi is President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology.

The Council relies on consultors to provide specialist knowledge in the field of culture or in dialogue with non-believers. They assist the Council by their research and the information and opinions they provide. Continue reading

The two-day conference, co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the University of Kent, began by launching the global "Understanding Unbelief" programme, presenting results from its research.

The multidisciplinary research programme is led by the University of Kent in collaboration with St Mary's University Twickenham, Coventry University and Queen's University Belfast.

Their findings - published in a report "Understanding Unbelief: Atheists and Agnostics around the World" - mapped the nature and diversity of 'unbelief' across Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, UK and the USA.

Unbelievers were asked about their attitudes to issues such as supernatural phenomena, whether the "universe is ultimately meaningless" and what values matter most to them.

Interim findings show that in all the countries, the majority of unbelievers identified as having 'no religion'.

However, unbelief comes in many forms and the research report notes unbelievers exhibited significant diversity both within and between different countries.

The researchers also found that a lack of belief in God didn't necessarily entail unbelief in other supernatural phenomena.

Rather, they found the majority of unbelievers expressed belief in one or more supernatural phenomena.

Perhaps surprisingly, as it is contrary to popular belief, the report says only around a third of unbelievers in each country regard the universe to be ultimately meaningless.

Unbelievers' views on morality and values were also under the researchers' spotlight.

They report finding most unbelievers endorse objective moral values, human dignity and attendant right. They also support the "deep value" of nature, at similar rates to the general populations in their countries.

Likewise, unbelievers and general populations agree about the values they think are most important for "finding meaning in the world and your own life".

Both rank "family" and "freedom" highly.

"These findings show once and for all that the public image of the atheist is a simplification at best, and a gross caricature at worst. Instead of relying on assumptions about what it means to be an atheist, we can now work with a real understanding of the many different worldviews that the atheist population includes," one of the researchers says.

"The implications for public and social policy are substantial - and this study also stands to impact on more everyday interactions in religiously diverse societies."

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Pew Research Centre

During yesterday's General Audience in St. Peter's Square, he especially welcomed visitors participating in the "Watershed" Conference.

Timed to take place on 22 March - World Water Day - the conference focus was on "replenishing water values for a thirsty world".

Francis told the visitors he was happy the conference was taking place:

"It represents yet another stage in the joint commitment of various institutions to raising consciousness about the need to protect water".

Francis also said this commitment includes helping people become aware "water is a treasure belonging to everyone, mindful too of its cultural and religious significance."

Francis finished his special greeting to the conference participants by thanking them for their work.

He said he wanted to encourage the work they do in educating people, especially through programmes directed to children and young people.

The conference is being co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Argentinian Chapter of the Club of Rome.

Source

• Zenit
• Vatican Radio
• Modern Survival Blog

An "outline document", produced by a panel of female consultants to the Pontifical Council for Culture, comes ahead of an upcoming assembly devoted to women's issues.

The document, titled Women's Cultures: Equality and Difference, warns that procedures such as facelifts and tummy tucks can become a form of "aggression" that threatens female identity.

Cosmetic procedures motivated by vanity are "one of the many manipulations of the body that explore its limits with respect to the concept of identity" in the modern world, the document says.

Surgical alterations in appearance, the document states, can "amputate the expressive possibilities of the human face, which are so connected to empathic abilities".

Such changes "can be aggressive toward the feminine identity, showing a refusal of the body in as much as it is a refusal of the 'season' that is being lived out".

One woman is quoted who said: "Plastic surgery is like a burqa made of flesh."

The paper presents an analysis of challenges facing women today, both in society and in the Church.

It concedes that despite abundant rhetoric on the importance of women, to date they have largely been excluded from leadership roles in the Church.

"Why, with their great presence, have women had so little impact on the Church's structures?" it asks.

"In pastoral praxis, why are we giving women only those tasks of a somewhat rigid scheme, the fruit of ideological and ancestral left-overs?"

The document acknowledges that women work as top managers in other walks of life, but often have no corresponding decision-making role or responsibility within their Christian communities.

"If, as Pope Francis says, women have a central role in Christianity," says the document, "this role must find a counterpart also in the ordinary life of the Church."

The document stresses that "there's no discussion here of women priests, which according to statistics is not something that women want".

But it does highlight the fact that the image of womanhood that the Church has does not correspond to reality.

"Today women no longer spend their afternoons reciting the rosary or taking part in religious devotions," it states.

Sources

• The Independent
• Crux
• Pontifical Council for Culture
• Image: The Guardian

TED — short for Technology, Entertainment and Design — offers a worldwide platform for what it calls "ideas worth spreading".

Its conferences feature imaginative and entertaining speeches lasting precisely 18 minutes on developments in the sciences, computing, media and the arts.

The Vatican conference, with a theme of religious freedom, was held under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Courtyard of the Gentiles project.

"We wanted to listen to stories from every walk of life," said curator Giovanna Abbiati, who, along with a group of lay academics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, came up with the idea of holding the event.

"We want to reaffirm that religious freedom is a fundamental human right," she said.

"First of all, it is an aspiration of the soul. Religious freedom consists in the protection of all men and women from coercion of conscience.

"Second, through religion we discover who we are. We discover values and the respect of these values. Genuine religion has a full role to play in society to make our world one of justice and peace."

The event was hosted by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

He said there is a "tragic and painful lack of religious liberty in different parts of the world today. There are many areas in the world where religious liberty is suppressed, impeded or restricted in different ways and for various reasons."

Cardinal Ravasi said restrictions on religion have increased not only in countries known for their lack of religious freedom, but also in many countries with a good record.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, he said, no less than 75 per cent of the world's population "lives in countries where governments, social groups or individuals restrict people's ability to freely practise their faith".

Sources:

Catholic Herald

The Guardian

TEDx ViaDellaConciliazione

Image: Gloria Estefan (Facebook)

Pia De Solenni, an American consultant who has theology degrees from two Vatican-chartered universities, was asked to speak to the council about the "emotive alphabet of youth".

"If people learn how to experience intimacy on a natural level, then they are going to be disposed to it on a supernatural level, on a spiritual level," she said.

Continue reading