VATICAN - Peace, violence and religions at the centre of a visit to Malta by Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The need for more solidarity in a world increasingly intolerant and violent will be the theme of a visit 16 to 18 February which the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino will make to Malta. His addresses will draw from Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for World Day of Peace 2007 and two papal encyclicals, Populorum Progressio by Paul VI and Sollicitudo Rei Socialis by John Paul II, on the respective 40th and 20th anniversaries of publication of the documents. In the afternoon of Friday 16 February at the Phoenicia Hotel, Cardinal Martino will give a conference on: “The Human Person, the Heart of Peace”, highlighting the “trascendente grammatica of individuals and peoples for living together and building relationships of justice and solidarity regardless of race, colour, creed or gender”.
In the morning of Saturday 17 February at St. Aloysius College de La Valletta, the Cardinal will address young people and members of commission and groups active in the field of justice and peace on the theme: “Peace, violence and religions”. At the end of a debate which will follow the conference, in the late morning of Saturday, again at St. Aloysius College, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will give a press conference on the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church and the Media, particularly concerning the responsibility and duty to give correct information. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 9/2/2007; Righe 17; Parole 243)