Caritas in Veritate is an encyclical that speaks to the present. Ten years after its publication, its teachings relating to the development of people in an integral perspective, and of respect for the person beyond mere economic and material aspects, are more relevant than ever.
It is necessary, however, to recover and update the meaning of common good in a plural perspective of "common goods", of which one should be the guardian. In this sense, it is necessary to try to annul the separation that has been created between economy and fraternity among people through a new culture.
This is the message that emerged from the seminar held on 3 December at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development - in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) - entitled "Theory and Praxis of Development", and dedicated precisely to Caritas in Veritate, signed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
The meeting was attended by about eighty people, including representatives of the Church, international and non-governmental organizations engaged in the humanitarian and development sector, and representatives of the world of academia and research.
Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery, and Prof. Stefano Zamagni, President of PASS, welcomed the guests.
H. Exc. Mgr. Paul Gallagher, Substitute for Foreign Affairs of the Secretariat of State, H. Exc. Silvano M. Tomasi and Msgr. Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery, gave their contribution during the opening session.
Among others, speakers included Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University (USA); Leonardo Becchetti, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Rome Tor Vergata; Leila Farah Mokaddem, Country Manager of the African Development Bank in Morocco; Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD in Geneva; Tony Castleman, Director of the Agriculture, Livelihoods, Water and Microfinance Program of the Catholic Relief Service (CRS); Michael Naughton, Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas (USA); Adriana Gomez Chico Spamer, representative of IMDOSOC (Mexico); Renè Castro Salazar, Assistant Director General at FAO.
