Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Among the most significant interventions by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI during the month of November we mention an address given on 25 November on the occasion of the inauguration of the Academic Year of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Addressing students and teachers Pope Benedict XVI recalled the encyclical “Humanae Vitae” by Paul VI and urged Catholic researchers to continue to work following the teaching of the Magisterium. «“I should like to state that I also have very much at heart the "Paul VI International Scientific Institute for Research on Human Fertility and Infertility" for responsible procreation (cf. L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 22 November 2000, p. 7). Indeed, because of its institutional goals, it is presented as an eloquent example of that synthesis of truth and love which constitutes the vital centre of Catholic culture.». The Pope said he hoped all scientific efforts to «regulate fertility and infertility» will always find the necessary support in the light of the faith. « This then is the great challenge to Catholic Universities - the Pope said - to impart knowledge in the perspective of true rationality, different from that of today which largely prevails, in accordance with a reason open to the question of the truth and to the great values inscribed in being itself, hence, open to the transcendent, to God.». In other words « to combine faith and knowledge...because one discovers, moving within this horizon of meaning, the intrinsic unity that links the different branches of knowledge: theology, philosophy, medicine, economics, every discipline, even the most specialised technologies, since everything is connected>. Quoting Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution "ex corde Ecclesiae" [from the heart of the Church] Pope Benedict XVI said: < the "Catholic" identity is in no way reductive but rather exalts the University. Indeed, if the fundamental mission of every university is "a continuous quest for the truth through its research, and the preservation and communication of knowledge for the good of society" a Catholic academic community is distinguished by the Christian inspiration of individuals and of the University Community itself, in the light of the faith that illuminates thought, for the fidelity to the Christian message as it is presented by the Church and for the institutional commitment to the service of the People of God.».
