VATICAN - LEO XIII AND PEACE CONVENTIONS PROMOTED BY THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE AND THE GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY TO MARK THE CENTENARY OF THE DEATH OF THIS GREAT POPE

Vatican City (Fides Service) – In history’s passage from the 19th to the 20th centuries and the definitive turn towards modernity, the impulse given by Pope Leo XIII to a new presence and activity of the Holy See at the international level is at the origin of a growing commitment for peace, consisting of teaching and action, which has characterised the Holy See during the pontificates of the recent Popes from Benedict XV to John Paul II. This is the subject for reflection chosen for a Convention on November 15 in the Vatican with the title “Leo XIII and Peace”, organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Gregorian University to mark the centenary of the death of that great pontiff.
The Convention, hosted by the Pontifical Council at the Vatican San Calisto buildings in Trastevere, will be attended by historians, theologians and international experts. It will have two parts: part 1 will illustrate the historical context and the pastoral and diplomatic work of Pope Leo XIII; part 2 will highlight the same Pope’s contribution to the successive action of the Holy See in favour of peace, particularly in relation to present day challenges.
The Convention will be introduced jointly by the President of the Council Cardinal Renato R. Martino and the Rector of the Gregorian University Father Franco Imoda S J. Speakers will include Prof. René Remond from the French National Foundation of Political Science; Prof. Heinz-Gerhard Justenhoven, of the Institute of Theology and Peace at Barsbuttel, Germany; Prof. Andrea Riccardi of the S.Egidio Community. There will follow a round table discussion on the Presentday Challenges to Peace with presentations by Mgr Bruno Forte from the Pontifical Theology Faculty of Southern Italy, Prof. Raymond Ranjeva from the Palace of Peace in the Hague, Prof. Oscar R. De Rojas from the United Nations in New York and Prof. Paolo Carozza from the Notre Dame Institute of International Studies for Peace, Indiana, USA. (S.L.) (Fides Service 14/11/2003 – lines 23; words 317)