VATICAN - “Disarmament, development, and peace. Perspectives for holistic disarmament”: international seminar promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Ethics and politics, economy and law, international organisations, non-governmental groups and religions, in synergy for the realization of "holistic disarmament", not only of weapons, but also and even before this, in the heart of man. This is the central concern of the international study seminar that the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace will hold at the Vatican tomorrow, April 11, and the following day, with the participation of scholars and experts at the international level, on the theme: "Disarmament, development, and peace: perspectives for holistic disarmament."
The first session of the meeting, tomorrow, will be dedicated to an ethical and spiritual reflection on disarmament and on the conditions for a geopolitics of development and peace, with addresses - among others - by Jesuit Fr. Sergio Bastianel of the Pontifical Gregorian University and by Guy Feuer of the Sorbonne. The second session will discuss certain economic and legal questions, like the international arms trade, the overlapping of the civilian and military economy, and the relationship between disarmament and human rights. The third and final session on Saturday will emphasise the role of the various subjects called to work together for "holistic disarmament", meaning government and non-governmental bodies, international organisations, and, not least, the religions. The Seminar will be introduced and concluded by the President of the Pontifical Council, Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 10/4/2008; righe 20, parole 227)