VOL. XX

ANNO 2012

N. 1

Pontificium Consilium de Cultura

CIVITAS VATICANA

Cultures et Foi

Cultures and Faith

Culturas y Fe

Culture e FedeCulture e FedeCulture e Fede

Special Edition

Pontificium Consilium de Cultura

CIVITAS VATICANA

Cultures et Foi

Cultures and Faith

Culturas y Fe

Culture e Fede

4

REDAZIONE E ABBONAMENTI

REDAZIONE

Direttore responsabileMons. Gergely Kovács

RedazioneS.E.R. Mons. Carlos Alberto AzevedoMons. Franco PerazzoloP. Laurent MazasP. Theodore MascarenhasRev. Miguel Ángel ReyesDr. Richard Rouse

CollaboratoriS.E.R. Mons. Barthélemy AdoukonouMons. Melchor Sánchez de TocaMons. Pasquale IacoboneMons. Tomasz TrafnyDr. Renzo PanzoneSig.ra Paola M. Fontana

SedePontificium Consilium de CulturaV-00120 Città del VaticanoTel.: +39-06.6989.3811Fax: +39-06.6988.7368rivista@cultura.va

Progetto graficoClaudia Dimiccoli

Edizione e stampa

Finito di stampare: marzo 2012

Foto di copertina:Cellula staminale adulta(www.neostem.com)

ABBONAMENTI

REVUE TRIMESTRIELLE(avec des textes en anglais, espagnol, français et italien)

Abonnement annuel

Pour l’Europe 28 e et en dehors de l’Europe 35 $ USApayable par chèque ou mandat postal(en dehors de l’Europe, utiliser une banque des États-Unis) à l’ordre de:

Cultures et Foi, Conseil Pontifical de la Culture00120 CITE DU VATICAN

A QUARTERLY REVIEW(articles in English, French, Italian and Spanish)

Annual Subscription

In Europe 28 e and outside Europe U.S. $ 35by international postal order or by cheque in dollars(if outside Europe, to be drawn on an American bank) payable to:

Cultures and Faith, Pontificial Council for Culture00120 VATICAN CITY

REVISTA TRIMESTRAL(con artículos en español, francés, inglés e italiano)

Subscripción anual

En Europa 28 e y fuera de Europa 35$ USAa pagar por giro postal internacional o por cheque en dólares(fuera de Europa, respaldado por banco USA) a nombre de:

Culturas y Fe, Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura00120 CIUDAD DEL VATICANO

RIVISTA TRIMENSTRALE(con articoli in francese, inglese, italiano e spagnolo)

Abbonamento annuo

Per l’Europa 28 e e fuori Europa 35$ USApagabile a mezzo di vaglia postale o assegno bancario(fuori d’Europa attraverso una banca degli USA) all’ordine di:

Culture e Fede, Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura00120 CITTÀ DEL VATICANO

VIERTELJAHRESSCHRIFT(mit Beiträgen in Englisch, Französisch, Italienisch und Spanisch)

Jahresabonnement

Für Europa 28 e und außerhalb Europas 35$ USAzahlbar mittels internationaler Post-anweisung oder Scheck(außerhalb Europas durch ein Bank von USA) zugunsten von:

Culture e Fede, Päpstlicher Rat für die Kultur00120 VATIKANSTADT

5

INDICE

Culture e FedeVOL. XX - ANNO 2012 - N. 1

Editorial: Trafny / Smith..........................................................................6

STUDIA ..........................................................................8- What are Stem Cells?- Overcoming Misconceptions ..................8- Where Do Stem Cells Come From? ............................................10- Stem Cell Therapy and Hearth Failure - A Potential ParadigmShift in Treatment of Chronic Hearth Disease ..........................12

- Bio-insurance: Future Applications for Adult Stem Cells & Howto Keep Them Healthy .................................................................... 14

- Umbilical Cord Blood Banking ......................................................16- Targeting Autoimmune Diseases with Adult Stem Cell Therapy....18- Considerations to Create a Cell-based Therapeutic:

The Pharmacy of the Future, Make Versus Buy:the Decision to Outsource Cell-based Manufacturing............19

- Ending The Dispute Over Stem Cell Therapies ..........................21- Humanism in Stem Cell Research: Necessary Conditions for Optimization ....................................23

- Education as a Challenge: Necessary Tool for a Better Future ..25- Will Advances in the Life Sciences Change our Vision of Man?......27

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII ......................................30- XVI Seduta Pubblica delle Pontificie Accademie ........................30- Messaggio del Santo Padre in occasione dellaXVI Seduta Pubblica delle Pontificie Accademie ........................32

- Gaudì en Roma ................................................................................35- 15° Tertio Millennio Film Fest ......................................................38- An Azerbaijani Concert Comes to Town ....................................41- Ciencia y fe en la Ciudad Santa ....................................................42- Nuova Fondazione in Vaticano dedicata al dialogotra la scienza, la teologia e la filosofia ..........................................43

MISCELLANEA............................................................44- 36° sessione della Conferenza Generale dell’UNESCO ........44- A Hungarian Success Story: the Fifth World Science Forum ..46- Declaration of the Budapest World Science Forum 2011on a New Era of Global Science ....................................................49

- Entre ciel et terre..............................................................................53

BANDO DI DUE CONCORSI ....................................56

RECENSIONES ............................................................57

LIBRI..............................................................................59

LITTERÆ AD EDITOREM MISSÆ ..........................62

6

EDITORIAL

Medicine continues to change and it is criticalthat we understand the issues that faceadoption of this new era in regenerative

medicine. The International Conference on Adult Stem

Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture heldat the Aula Nuova del Sinodo in Vatican City betweenNovember 9th through 11th, 2011, gathered togetherthe foremost experts in adult stem cell research, Churchleaders, policymakers, ethicists, government represen-tatives, ambassadors to the Holy See and representa-tives of the stem cell therapeutic business community. This event accentuated how far we have come scienti-fically from fifty years ago when the first adult stem cellarticle was published by Till and McCulloch. At thesame time, the conference highlighted the importanceof the need to gain a better understanding of Man andculture and begin to broadly reflect on the possible in-teraction not only between natural sciences and ethics,but also between natural sciences and humanities. The purpose of the conference was to bring togetherthe foremost experts in adult stem cell research, Churchleaders, policymakers, ethicists, government represen-

tatives, ambassadors to the Holy See and representati-ves of the stem cell therapeutic business community tounderstand the impact this new medicine will have onculture and on people’s faith, unite us all toward thecommon goal of ending needless human suffering bythe advancement of stem cell therapies. Faith andscience do not need to be in opposition to one ano-ther. People do not have to choose between theirfaith and science. We need to look closely at the conditions of a possibledialogue across disciplines and perhaps among institu-tions. The term “dialogue” indicates a special type ofrelation where people meet each other and communi-cate to each other. It is real, alive, dynamic and due toperfection relationship based on open, respectable,humble and free from prejudices desire of knowledgewhich is rich with curiosity and orientated to the truth.The need for dialogue is one of the important reasonswhy this conference was organized. The conference was an expression of mutual effort ofthe Pontifical Council for Culture and biopharmaceu-tical company NeoStem as well as their charitable or-ganizations STOQ and the Stem for Life Foundation.Those institutions, so heterogeneous and apparentlyfocused on very different goals, have reached a com-mon understanding through close and dynamic colla-boration. This partnership is critical as by joiningforces, we can work together and produce the biggestsocial impact. At this conference we found that beyond death ratesand suffering, behind the grief and loss, there lies somuch hope – and real people whose lives have beentransformed by adult stem cell therapies. Four patientadvocates attended to speak about their experienceswith adult stem cell therapy and we look for the timein the not too distant future where adult stem cell ther-apy can be common place and standard of care in mod-ern medicine.Science has a major impact on the future of man, as itremains one of the most influential factors in the futureof culture. The exploration and understanding of this

Robin L. Smith

7

EDITORIAL

horizon appears not only as a fascinating adventure,but above all as an imperative and a clear sign of re-sponsibility toward the Church and towards humanity.For that reason there are a few specific expectations co-ming from this initiative. The Church aims at offeringa positive message centered on dialogue and mutual li-stening, showing, at the same time, that excellent rese-arch can be promoted without violating ethical orreligious principles. Secondly, we want to promote in-terdisciplinary reflection in which basic research, clini-cal protocols, bioethical issues, as well as matters ofphilosophical and theological anthropology might beaddressed in a single encounter stimulating reflectionand debate on some issues and challenges that arise inthe large horizon of interactions between scientific andcultural investigations, and that can have a significantimpact on the future of man. The Vatican conference was only the first step withinan articulated itinerary developed to foster the highestlevels of scientific research on adult stem cells and toexplore the cultural, ethical and human implicationsof their use. We need to educate individuals that hun-dreds of millions of people globally are suffering fromdebilitating and life threatening illnesses for whichadult stem cells may be part of the treatment regimenand these solutions come without the ethical dilemmaposed by the use of embryonic stem cells. The Catholic

Church has a great reach Church supporting over5,000 hospitals, 17,000 outpatient units, 16,000 nur-sing homes, and over 85,000 other health care facilities.There are over 400,000 catholic priests serving theChurch’s 1.1 billion members which contains over17% of the world’s population. We also need to findfinancial resources to advance the clinical trials so thatthese therapies can be evaluated to answer questions ofpotency, dose, safety, and best delivery mechanism andtime of administration so that in the not too distantfuture we will be able to use adult stem cells routinelyto rebuild damaged tissue and repair organs, such asthe heart, pancreas, blood vessels, retinas, and wounds. We take the challenge of translating the results of thevery sophisticated medical sciences to an audiencewhich goes beyond the narrow circle of experts and, the-refore, to open a channel of communication betweenthe scientific communities and the general public. It isan attempt to address the content to those who rarelyhave the scientific medical-biological training: represen-tatives of the Episcopal conferences, politicians and am-bassadors to the Holy See, governmentalrepresentatives, Workers of non-profit organizationsand even businesses. From this first attempt, we wantto develop further courses for students and tools for re-searchers that want to explore more deeply importanttopics within the multidisciplinary context.

Robin L SMITH, MD, MBAChairman & CEO of the NeoStem Inc.

President of The Stem for Life Foundation

Msgr. Tomasz TRAFNY

Head of Science and Faith Department

Pontifical Council for Culture

Msgr. Tomasz Trafny

STUDIA

The field of stem cells has been so clouded bycontroversy and misconceptions that few peo-ple truly understand what stem cells are, what

their potential is and how much research is being donewith them. In fact, when we asked people on the streetto tell us about stem cells, the answers ranged from“cells that can help you stop smoking” to “ways to growbody parts” to even “a technique for choosing your ba-by’s gender and appearance”.The reality is that stem cells are early stage cells thatcan divide and develop into various specialized celltypes in the body. They can also self-renew to producemore stem cells.There are two types of stem cells – embryonic stemcells and adult stem cells. In mammals, including hu-mans, adult stem cells act as a repair system for thebody, replenishing and healing adult tissue. These adultstem cells are found in children as well as adults andcan be found in many tissues and organs.What makes these cells exciting is their remarkablecapacity to transform or become any number of dif-ferent cell types… with some limitations. Usuallythey can only become cells of the same tissue type.This means that adult stem cells could be used forwhat are called cell-based therapies, offering the pos-sibility of a renewable source of replacement cells andtissues to treat diseases including Alzheimer’s disease,spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabe-tes, arthritis and more.

So what are these remarkable cells? What dothey look like? And, more impor-

tantly, what makes them different from – and more po-werful than – most other cells? Let’s start with some hi-ghly simplified and abbreviated basic cell biology. Most of us think of a cell as a ball of liquid or gel filledwith a bunch of tiny structures just floating around in-side. In fact, a cell is an incredibly complex and orderlyorganism where literally trillions of chemical reactionsare happening every second. The outside of a cell is asemi-fluid envelope called the cell membrane. Embed-ded in the membrane are large sugar and protein mo-lecules that regulate how things like nutrients andwaste pass in and out of the cell as well as help transmitsignals to the cells interior. The control center of thecell, the nucleus, contains genes made up of variouscombinations of DNA. Some genes help cells becomebone… others to become skin, muscle, liver cells andso on. This is what’s called “differentiation”.In an embryonic stem cell, virtually all genes are “openfor business”, meaning the stem cell not just contains

Dr. Maximo G. Gomez, Ph. D.

WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?OVERCOMING MISCONCEPTIONS

Dr. Maximo G. Gomez, Ph. D.

Dr. Maximo G. Gomez, Ph.D. is a member of the Board ofDirectors for the Stem for Life Foundation and one oftelevision’s most respected medical journalists.

8

9

STUDIA

all of the genetic code needed to turn it into every typeof cell in the human body, but it’s all available for use.But, as an embryonic cell starts to differentiate – as itstarts to become a specific type of cell – DNA that’snot needed for that particular cell type to function be-gins to shut down. Inactive genetic material or “hete-rochromatin” is formed… and while the unneededgenes are still present, they’re just not accessible.We used to think that was the end of the story… that“adult” cells were fully and irreversibly differentiatedand only capable of making more copies of themselves.But now we know better. It turns out we keep somestem cells around. Technically they are “progenitor”cells – meaning that while many of their genes haveshut down… not all have. So, they can be re-program-med or reactivated to a certain extent… to make moreof the tissue they’re found in. For our purposes, we’llcall them “adult” stem cells. And we’re now learningthat these adult stem cells are found in many, perhapsmost, tissues in the body.These “adult” or “somatic” stem cells are generally whatwe call “multipotent” – meaning they can become se-veral different types of cells… but usually only withinthe same broad tissue type. For example, neural stemcells can become brain and other nervous system cells,but not muscle or blood.More recently, however, it’s been found that adultstem cells might be able to become cells of differenttissue types, which is called trans-differentiation.These cells are said to be “pluripotent”… the exam-ple here is bone marrow stem cells that may be ableto differentiate or mature into liver, lung, gi tract andskin. It’s thought that these pluripotent cells are thecells we call “VSELs”… short for very small embryo-nic-like stem cells.But now, scientists have figured out an even neatertrick: how to take fully differentiated cells and revertor reprogram them into stem cells. It’s done by takingthe “shut down” genes and opening them up for busi-ness again… either by unwinding the tightly wound,inactive DNA… or by inserting some key genes thatthe cell needs to revert to its embryonic-like state. Thisis usually done using viruses with the needed genes en-gineered into them. The virus then does what it often

does best, inserts its genetic material into the humancell’s DNA.When these cells are cultured, some of them actuallydedifferentiate. Not only do they look like embryoniccells… they have the potential to become many dif-ferent tissues. All of this is happening even as you readthis. There are at least 3500 clinical trials going onright now using adult and/or transformed cells totreat diseases ranging from leukemia to orthopedicsto heart disease.

Think about what this means. We are on the brink ofa whole new way of treating disease: cellular therapy…harnessing the power of nature, the potential lockedinside our own cells, to repair, treat and even cure someof the most difficult diseases of mankind. Not withdrugs or surgical procedures that can leave us scarredor damaged or suffering from serious side effects, butwith cells. In the future your doctor might prescribe,instead of pills, custom-made cells to treat your di-sease…and made from your own cells! Medicine will never be the same.

STUDIA

Stem cells are primitive, unspecialized cells that canrenew themselves by cell division, producing eithernew (daughter) stem cells or cells (progenitor cells)

that will differentiate into specialized cells such as redblood cells, muscle cells, or nerve cells. The major taskof stem cells in adult tissues is to repair/rejuvenate tissuesthat are damaged due to the aging process, disease ortrauma. The human body develops from the most prim-itive remarkable stem cell that is an oocyte fertilized bya sperm. This earliest stem cell at the beginning of ourlife is named a zygote. During the first stages of embry-onic development stem cells show a broad potential todifferentiate into cells from many different tissues in thedeveloping body and are named pluripotent. With timepluripotent stem cells become gradually restricted intheir ability to contribute to a broad variety of tissuesand become committed to only one given type of stemcell in the adult tissues (e.g., blood stem cells, liver stemcells, neural stem cells). However some evidence existsthat a number of the pluripotent stem cells from earlystages of embryogenesis may survive into adulthood as apopulation of so-called very small embryonic-like stemcells (VSELs). These pluripotent stem cells that will bediscussed latter, can be thought of as a “back-up” popu-lation for more differentiated tissue-committed stem cells

and could be employed as ethical source of stem cellsisolated from the adult tissues in the

regenerative medicine.

Until recently, stem cells, considered from view of po-tential clinical applications, were grouped into two maincategories: embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and adult (so-

matic) stem cells (ASCs). ESCs are derived from devel-oping embryos. The production of embryonic stem cellsnecessitates the destruction of the embryo. There are nocurrent stem cell therapies using ESC’s as the problemsassociated with these cells with respect to their inherenttumorigenesis, and other issues that precipitate regula-tory interventions that are not as yet, resolved. Addition-ally, ESCs can never be autologous (where the cells areone’s own) and will be rejected by the patient’s immunesystem and thus are deprived of a major attribute achiev-able with ASCs. Moreover the technologies to differen-tiate ESCs into different types of tissues achieved so farin laboratories worldwide are far below expectations.While much of the regulatory restriction on embryonicstem cell research may have been removed by the currentU.S. administration, considerable concern about moral,ethical and religious issues still remain.Adult stem cells are now the basis of essentially all suc-cessful stem-cell based therapies. By definition, an adultstem cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differ-entiated cells in a post-natal tissue or organ, can renewitself, and can differentiate through progenitor cells toyield the major specialized cell types of the tissue ororgan (e.g., blood cells, liver cells, neural cells). In a livingorganism, the primary role of adult stem cells is the main-tenance and repair of the tissue in which these cells arefound. ASCs employed for therapeutic purposes may ei-ther be autologous (isolated from the patient’s own tis-sues) or allogeneic (derived from a donor). In general,most regenerative therapies are based on autologous cells,thus avoiding problems with rejection, graft-versus-hostdisease and transmission of infectious diseases. ASCs to be employed in the clinic can be obtained fromseveral sources. The relatively easily accessible sources of

WHERE DO STEM CELLS COME FROM?

Denis Rodgerson, Ph.D.Mariusz Z. Ra, M.D., Ph.D.

Denis Rodgerson Ph.D. is the Director of Stem Cell Science atNeoStem, Inc. as well as the initial founder of NeoStem. Hehas been a consultant to many institutions and corporations,including NASA, National Bureau of Standards, HewlettPackard, and Beckman Instruments.Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci, is the Henry and StellaHoenig Endowed Chair in Cancer Biology and the director of theDevelopmental Biology Research Program at the University ofLouisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

10

11

STUDIA

ASCs are hematopoietic tissues including bone marrow,umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood followingmobilization by pharmacological agents. These tissuesare convenient source of hematopoietic stem cells, how-ever, they also contain other types of ASC such as en-dothelial progenitors, mesenchymal stem cells and asmentioned above, VSELs. ASCs may also be collectedfrom other non-hematopoietic sources such as adiposetissues, placenta, and even deciduous teeth or by smallaspirates of myocardium. While these non-hematopoi-etic sources do indeed provide ASCs, the quantities arelimited and are significantly less than that required for acell dose for most conditions. It has been suggested thatthe inadequacy of ASC quantities obtained from varioussources can be overcome by expanding the ASCs outsideof the body. This has unfortunately proven to be a diffi-cult task, since ASCs tend to differentiate under expan-sion conditions, and thus the number of stem cells is notincreased. For the present, the preferred source of ASCsfor most therapies will be collection from peripheralblood, which allows for flexibility in the number of cellsobtained with a minimum of discomfort to the donor.Mounting evidence, demonstrates that ASCs restrictedto given tissues (e.g., hematopoietic stem cells or mes-enchymal stem cells) unfortunately possess limited dif-ferentiation potential and do not contribute to othernon-hematopoietic types of cells (e.g., cardiomyocytes).

However, instead these cells are a potent source ofgrowth factors, cytokines and bioactive lipids and thesefactors secreted by ASCs make major contributions inmost of the currently reported positive results in clinicaltrials employing ASCs. Based on this they could be suc-cessfully employed in the current cell therapies in regen-erative medicine before true pluripotent stem cellsisolated in sufficient quantities from adult tissues and suc-cessfully expanded ex vivo will be employed in the clinic.Such a potential source of pluripotent stem cells for re-generative medicine is VSELs. It is hypothesized that thepluripotent VSELs that are found in the adult bone mar-row, and also sequestered in many, or all, of the organsof the body in what are called stem cell niches, wherethey are available for rejuvenation and regeneration ofcells of the specific organ. Possibly VSELs are a dormantand quiescent population of stem cells deposited duringembryogenesis in developing tissues, a specialized pop-ulation of primitive stem cells that actively contribute tolong term regeneration and that, after being mobilizedinto the peripheral blood following stress, can contributeto tissue and possibly organ regeneration. The role ofVSELs in the regeneration of tissues for the treatmentof stroke, autoimmune diseases, retinopathies, osteo-porosis, wound healing, and orthopedic conditions isunder investigation but early studies have been verypromising. The demonstration that VSELs can be ob-tained from human adult peripheral blood opens thepossibility of achieving all the positive benefits of theembryonic stem cells without the negative attributessuch as tumorigenesis. Of even greater potential is theability to obtain un-expanded pluripotent stem cells inquantities sufficient for therapies, and for autologous use,which, as previously stated, is impossible with embry-onic cells. There is even evidence in pre-clinical work,that high levels of circulating VSELS may be linked tolongevity. It has been postulated that novel therapeuticstrategies employing these cells in regenerative medicinemay become the “key to longevity”.

Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.,D., Ph. D.

STUDIA

Alot of attention has been focused on cell therapyin a wide range of indications from oncology,where cell-based therapies are used to activate the

immune system to fight cancer, to immunology, in whichstem cell transplant has shown promise for treating di-seases such as lupus or even diabetes. But one of the mostexciting areas for cell therapy today is in cardiology. It often surprises people that one of the largest areas ofunmet medical need remains in cardiology. In an era ofdrug eluting stents (devices that keep arteries open), pa-cemakers and defibrillators as well as an arsenal of opti-mized pharmacological (drug) therapies that helpcontrol a beating heart, the mortality rate associated withheart attacks and congestive heart failure (when the heartloses its ability to pump blood to the body well enoughto sustain life) is still extraordinarily high. In fact, in thecase of severe heart failure, a five year mortality rate ashigh as 50% remains, and the outlook is worse than forcolon or breast cancers. The good news is that a paradigm shift of how cardiacdisease is treated is well underway. Companies such asBaxter, NeoStem, MesoBlast, and Cytori are working onnovel approaches using adult stem cells. In the case ofBaxter and NeoStem, both companies are utilizing thebody’s natural repair mechanism for ischemic injury,which is to deliver adult stem cells and, in particular,cells that express certain markers (CD 34+) to the site

of the ischemic insult. These cells havebeen known to be potent pro-

tagonists of angiogenesis (eliciting new blood vessel for-mation). Baxter is pioneering the use of these cells totreat ischemic areas of a damaged heart muscle, to stren-gthen the heart itself, and stop the progressive deterio-ration caused by chronic atherosclerosis. NeoStem is alsopioneering the use of the CD 34+ cells but in a slightlydifferent way - to treat the heart soon after an initialheart attack, strengthen the healthy tissue, and preventthe onset of congestive heart failure. Both of these ap-proaches are “autologous”, using one’s own cells to treatthe heart. The hope is that by concentrating and delive-ring these cells in a therapeutically effective dose, the na-

Roberto Bolli, M.D.

STEM CELL THERAPY AND HEART FAILUREA POTENTIAL PARADIGM SHIFT IN TREATMENT

OF CHRONIC HEART DISEASE

Roberto Bolli, M.D.

Robert Bolli, M.D., FAHA is Professor of Medicine, Physiologythe University of Louisville and is Chief of the CardiovascularMedicine Division at University of Louisville Health CareOutpatient Center.

12

13

STUDIA

tural powers of these cells to create new blood vessel for-mation, responding to the ischemic injury, can be leve-raged. Baxter is beginning a Phase III clinical trial forcongestive heart failure, the last step prior to approval,and NeoStem is beginning their Phase II trial for treat-ment after an acute myocardial infarction, both in theUnited States. In my lab we are working, in collabora-tion with Dr. PieroAnversa at the Brigham and Women’sHospital, on using a person’s own c-kit positive, lineagenegative cardiac stem cells (CSCs) to improve cardiacfunction after an infarct and have published very excitingPhase 1 data in The Lancet. We were able to show thatby administering 1 million autologous CSCs by intra-coronary infusion, the ejection fraction (a standard mea-sure of the heart’s pumping ability) improved and sizeof the infarct decreased in patients after a myocardial in-farction, implying that the cells induced regeneration ofnew heart muscle. Another interesting approach is beingtaken by Cytori, using stem cells that are derived fromadipose tissue (your fat) and introducing the purifiedcells back to where they are needed. Cytori has reportedencouraging Phase II clinical data in heart attack patientsand expectations are that we will see this product ad-vance to pivotal trials. Another company that has acqui-red a lot of attention in the cell therapy space isMesoblast. This Australian cell therapy company cameinto the spotlight when specialty pharmaceutical com-pany Cephalon acquired rights to the company’s cardio-logy program for a $130 million payment and an equitystake in the company. For many, this validated the com-mercial potential of cell therapy. What the acquirer see-med to understand is the potential of this company’sallogeneic cells (other people’s cells) to be packaged inan off-the-shelf, pills-in-a-bottle model, and utilized totreat cardiac disease in a way that traditional drug the-rapy has just not had success doing. Every year, over 1.7million people have a heart attack in Europe, and over1.1 million in the United States. These therapies in de-velopment today provide hope to millions who sufferas a result of this unmet medical need. These therapiesalso hold promise to alleviate the economic cost of ca-ring for these patients with a viable, cost effective celltherapy that can alter the deleterious cascading effectsof heart attacks.

STUDIA

Each generation witnesses a major revolutionin one or more industries that changes theworld forever. In our generation, it is the di-

scovery of Adult Stem Cells, and their many appli-cations for protecting future health – essentially abio-insurance. Just as the digital information era, ca-talyzed by advances in semiconductor technology, al-lowed virtually every person on earth to harness thepower of computing, the addition of bio-insuranceto our culture will allow people to protect their mostvaluable assets - health and time.

By collecting and storing one’s own Adult Stem Cells,it opens the option to use them later in life to treat,alleviate, and possibly even cure diseases of aging.The advances in medicine are now so rapid that theinformation doubles nearly every four months. It isthis avalanche of information that makes the poten-tial use of adult stem cells to improve our health acertainty. This exponential growth rate supports theidea that years from now, when one encounters a he-alth issue, the therapies with which their own stemcells can be used, will far outnumber the therapiesthey have available today – but only if people are pro-active about getting their cells stored now.

What makes this revolution in medical science so uni-que is that for once, we are harnessing our own god

given regenerative powers, instead of depen-ding on synthetic drugs or other

unnatural intervention.

People carry insurance on their homes, cars, andboats to protect against future damage to these assets,but they often neglect to insure their most importantvessel through life – their own physical body. Theprocess is simple, and starts with three injections ofa safe hormone used for decades to release adult stemcells from the bone marrow into the body’s circula-ting blood. Next, a relatively painless four- hour in-travenous filtering of the blood occurs. Finally, theadult stem cells are transported to a state-of-the-artlaboratory where they are separated from other bloodparts and then stored in cryogenic facilities.

Current applications for these Adult Stem Cells in-clude the treatment of heart disease and cancer – twoof the leading causes of death. However, the focusshould not be limited to what we can do with thesecells now. Rather, the focus should be on lookinginto the future, where the rapid and explosive rese-arch and discovery related to Adult Stem Cell appli-cations will undoubtedly offer many moreregenerative medical uses than exist today. Somescientists even hypothesize that adult stem cell usemay lead to the cure for some types of cancer.

Prior to treatment, in order to collect an abundantnumber of cells that are functioning optimally, soour future bio-insurance supply is most effective, wecan take oral nutraceutical supplements that helpmaintain the function and quality of the Stem Cellsin the body. These oral nutraceuticals contain natu-ral extracts proven to augment DNA repair and limitDNA damage. This is important because DNA da-mage is perhaps the most important factor in kee-ping adult stem cells healthy. We can also take oralnutraceuticals to prevent our telomeres from shor-

BIO-INSURANCE: FUTURE APPLICATIONSFOR ADULT STEM CELLS & HOW TO KEEP THEM HEALTHY

Vincent C. Giampapa MD FACS

Vincent C. Giampapa MD FACS, Assistant Clinical Professor,UMDNJ Medical Center Newark,N.J. USAFounder & Chief Medical Officer, Life Science InstituteContact: giampapamd@aol.com

14

STUDIA

tening rapidly. Telomeres are the "caps" at the endof our Chromsomes that act as biological "cellularclocks". As both Adult Stem Cells and body cellsmake copies of themselves, telomeres shorten witheach cell division and eventually the cell stops divi-ding and becomes nonfunctional. New Research hasshown that there are natural compounds that canhelp "slow" the telomere shortening process andother extracts that can actually help lengthen them.This is important to maintain not only regenerativecell division but also to help maintain a healthy im-mune system, bone density, muscle mass and generalbody function.

These supplements should be taken prior to collec-tion, but also continued after collection on an on-going basis, to keep the adult stem cells that remainin the body as healthy as possible. In addition to

keeping the adult stem cells healthy, these supple-ments also help to keep the body’s other cells heal-thier, as all cells incur DNA damage, so all cellsshould benefit from enhanced DNA repair and li-mited DNA damage.

The potential to heal ourselves with the natural cel-lular forces in the form of our ADULT STEMCELLS contained within our own bodies will pro-vide an improved quality of life as well as alleviatesuffering for millions of people in the near future.

Vincent C. Giampapa MD FACS15

STUDIA

Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells –mostly hematopoietic stem cells. Thehematopoietic stem cells are the cells that are

used in treating hematopoietic (blood – leukemia andlymphoma) and genetic disorders. There are differenttypes of transplants depending on whom the donor ofthe stem cells is: ➤ Autologous transplant – cells are from the same person.➤ Allogeneic transplant – cells are not from the same person.➤ Allogeneic related – cells are from a related family member.➤ Allogeneic unrelated – cells are from anyone and are

not from a related family member.

Stem cells may also be collected from:➤ Bone marrow – stem cells are collected from the mar-

row of the bone. ➤ Peripheral blood stem cells – stem cells are collected

by a process called apheresis andrequires venous access from thepatient/donor.

➤ Umbilical cord blood – stem cellsare collected from the umbilicalcord after the baby is born.

So how we have arrived at thispoint in history where parentshave the option to collect andstore their child’s umbilical cord

blood for potential fu-ture stem cell

transplants? In 1973, a team of physicians performedthe first unrelated bone marrow transplant. In 1988,the first cord blood transplant was performed inFrance. The parents of a baby who had Fanconi Ane-mia were expecting their second child and utilized theumbilical cord blood from their second child to treattheir first child. The first umbilical cord blood trans-plant was successful, thus beginning the new era intreatment of cancers and blood disorders and broughthope to many families unable to find a bone marrowmatch. After this first sibling-donor cord blood trans-plant was successful, the National Institutes of Health(NIH) awarded a grant to Dr. Pablo Rubinstein to de-velop the world’s first cord blood program and cordblood bank. In 1984, Congress passed the National Organ Trans-plant Act which included a request to evaluate unre-lated marrow transplantation and the feasibility ofestablishing a national donor registry. The NationalMarrow Donor Program (NMDP), a separate non-profit organization, was created. and took over the ad-ministration of the database needed to match a donorwith a recipient in need of a transplant. The programbegan with bone marrow donations, and then addedperipheral blood donations and cord blood donations.Over the years, the percentages of each of these dona-

UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD BANKING

Andrew Pecora, MDLee F. Clough, RN, HP (ASCP)

Andrew L. Pecora M.D., FACP is the Chief Medical Officer ofNeoStem, Inc. and Vice President of Cancer Services and ChiefInnovations Officer of the John Theurer Cancer Center atHackensack University Medical Center. His research focuseson the study of high-dose therapy and stem cell transplant inthe treatment of patients with cancer. Lee F. Clough, RN, HP (ASCP) is the Director of Clinical Affairsand Apheresis for Progenitor Cell Therapy, a NeoStem company.

16

17

STUDIA

tions have changed and currently there are a greaterpercentage of cord blood units being used for trans-plants. The NMDP has grown to 9 million donors andnearly 145,000 umbilical cord blood unitsIn 1992, a patient with leukemia was successfully trans-planted with cord blood instead of bone marrow. Today,cord blood stem cells have been used in more than20,000 transplants worldwide in the treatment of nearly80 diseases. There is a new FDA Guidance, effective Oc-tober 20, 2011, that impacts all public cord blood bankssince these banks provide cord blood for allogeneic cordblood transplants intended for hematopoietic reconsti-tution in patients with specified indications. Healthcare providers, in many states, are now man-dated by law to council pregnant women about thechoices in umbilical cord blood donation. Most statesrequire healthcare providers to council pregnantwomen by the beginning of their third trimester. Thechoices pregnant women have in reference to umbilicalcord blood are to discard and not store the umbilicalcord blood, publicly bank the umbilical cord blood, orto privately store their umbilical cord blood.Private cord blood banks enable parents at their infantsbirth to collect their child’s cord blood and store it forpotential future medical use. If the child, or a familymember would ever require a cord blood transplant,the private cord blood bank will work with the poten-tial recipient’s physician to see if the cord blood is amatch and then will work with you to release the cord

blood for transplant. The odds of an individual need-ing a stem cell transplant by age 70, using their owncells or from someone else, are estimated at 1 in 217.1No accurate estimates exist for the likelihood of chil-dren needing their own stored umbilical cord blood,but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics,an estimated 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 200,000 use the um-bilical cord blood that is stored. There are many clinical trials (www.clinicaltrials.gov) un-derway that are currently using cord blood to determineif chronic diseases like type 1 diabetes, cerebral palsy, hy-drocephalus, and several others can be cured or improvedwith a cord blood transplant. The “future is now” andscientists are working with the FDA to provide an effica-cious way to develop cures for the many diseases and ill-nesses that afflict people around the world.

References1.Nietfield JJ, et al, Lifetime probabilities of hematopoi-etic stem cell transplantation , in the US Biol Blood Mar-row Transplant. Mar, 2008; 14(3):316-322. http://www.parentsguidecordblood.orghttp://www.marrow.orghttp://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/history-of-stem-cell-research-faq.htm http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/104/1/116.full http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_blood http://www.clinicaltrials.govhttp://www.fda.govAndrew Pecora, M.,D., Ph. D.

Lee F. Clough

STUDIA

Autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, sys-temic sclerosis, lupus, and type 1 diabetes, occurwhen the body’s immune system develops a flaw

in its ability to tell the difference between its self and out-side cells. What is normally the body’s defense system be-comes its enemy. There are more than 80 known types ofautoimmune disease and they affect more than 583 millionpeople worldwide. That is approximately eight out of everyhundred people in the world today.Institutions such as the Northwestern University, FeinbergSchool of Medicine, has a Division of Immunotherapy thatfocus is on applying stem cells or immune cells toward in-novative approaches to autoimmune disease managementand organ regeneration. All ongoing clinical studies forstem cell therapies may be located onwww.clinicaltrials.gov. These clinical trials involve collab-oration with the Divisions of Rheumatology, Nephrology,Gastroenterology, and the Departments of Neurology,Dermatology, and Vascular Surgery in innovative ap-proaches and active protocols for the treatment of lupus,multiple scleroses, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis,Crohns disease, chronic inflammatory demyelinatingpolyradiculopathy (CIDP), type I diabetes, polymyositis,sarcoidosis, Devics (neuromyelitisoptica), and Wegeners,as well as peripheral vascular disease. We divide the process of autologous transplantation for apatient into four phases. Phase I is retrieval of disease spe-cific questionnaire, outside records and biopsy samples, fol-lowed by pre-transplant testing. Phase II is mobilization,wherein a patient is given stem cell mobilizing agents thatencourages the release of adult stem cells from the bonemarrow to the peripheral blood. Phase III is the harvest of

the stem cells through the process of apheresis and is fol-lowed by a 2 week rest interval to assure

sterility testing of the collected

stem cells before Phase IV, conditioning/transplant. In thisfinal phase, the patients’ cells are returned to them in amanner very similar to a blood transfusion. The patient re-mains in the hospital on an average 10 days after stem cellinfusion to ensure recovery. We have pioneered the use of hematopoietic stem cells totreat autoimmune diseases with pre-clinical animal studiesthat began more than 25 years ago. This work has been sup-ported with funding from the National Institutes of Health,Lupus Foundation of America, National MS society, as wellas a generous philanthropic donations, and our own com-mitted passion to work long hours to find answers to today’smost disabling and puzzling medical problems. Dr Burt was honored in 2006 by the magazine ScientificAmerican as one of the top 50 people worldwide for im-proving humanity and in 2010 by Science Illustrated for pi-oneering one the 10 greatest medical advances (stem cellsfor autoimmune diseases) of the decade. Dr Burt publishesin numerous medical academic journals including TheLancet and Journal of the American Medical Association andsome of his clinical stem cell trials are being run in Uni-versities worldwide. Please refer to www.stemcell-im-munotherapy.com for more information.

Dr. Richard K. Burt. M. D.

TARGETING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES WITH ADULT STEM CELL THERAPY

Dr. Richard K. Burt M.D.

Richard K. Burt, M.D. is Chief of the Division of Immunology,Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine,Northwestern University and a pioneer of adult stem celltreatments for autoimmune disease.

18

19

STUDIA

Over the past 20-25 years, our understandingof the therapeutic potential of the cell hascontinually gained momentum and prom-

ise. In order to realize this potential many obstaclesneed to be overcome, including those related to reg-ulatory, clinical, scientific, and financial concerns. Inthe end, we must devise robust and affordable man-ufacturing paradigms for these most innovative andunique therapies, ones that recognize that “change”is central to their development from concepts tocommercial realities. It is within this context that theconcept of Quality Systems and Comparability es-

tablish themselves as critical to the successful manu-facturing and development program.A successful manufacturing strategy must therefore bebased from ‘the inside’ on a multi-parametric character-ization, with an eye towards comparability, and build inpotency and biological characterization approaches asearly as possible. The most successful strategy is built inconsultation with regulatory authorities (such as FDAand EMA, European Medicines Agency), and is builtupon a solid Quality System on ‘the outside’ as guidedby regulations such as the FDA’s Current Good TissuesPractices (21 CFR 1271) and Current Good Manufac-turing Practices (21 CFR 210/211).Planning a solid product characterization strategy is thesole manner through which one can ensure that process,reagent, equipment, facility and other changes do notnegatively impact the cell product, and to avoid unnec-essary delays and cost. From early in development, onemust have commercialization in mind, building in ele-

CONSIDERATIONS TO CREATE A CELL BASED THERAPEUTIC:THE PHARMACY OF THE FUTURE MAKE VERSUS BUY:

THE DECISION TO OUTSOURCE CELL-BASED MANUFACTURING

Dr. Robert A. Preti, Ph.D.

Robert A. Preti, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and President of theProgenitor Cell Therapy (PCT), a founding member of theInternational Society for Cellular Therapies (ISCT, formerly theInternational Society for Hematotherapy and GraftEngineering), and serves on the Editorial Board for thesociety’s journal, Cytotherapy. He also serves in his fourth termas Director for the AABB.

STUDIA

ments that will allow for ultimate automation, scale-up,and delivery, and based up a solid product characteriza-tion profile to effectively control these changes at the timeat which they are most efficiently implemented. A robust quality system and product characterizationstrategy can support the development of various cellproducts, as well as those of different types (i.e. patent-specific or universal (“off the shelf”), scaffold products,and the like. ‘Off-the-shelf ’ products, defined as thosefrom which many patient doses can be derived from asingle donor’s cells, have an apparent cost-of-goods ad-vantage over patient-specific products, as product lotsmore readily scale-up through automation, and leverageof material, labor, and facilities. While large batch sizeshave an advantage in that resemble production runs oftraditional therapeutics, the economics related to theuse of these production runs must take into accountthat these cell product analogs require cold-chain dis-tribution, shipping, storage, bed-side preparation, andinfusion/application that may be considerably morecomplicated than those of patient-specific products.Further, the more complex a cell product, especiallythose involving combinations of cells, with or withoutbiomaterial scaffolds and those that rely on mainte-nance of their organizational structure for activity, suchas bladders, skin an blood vessels, the more difficult toenvision production, cryopreservation and storage ofthese on a large, off-the-shelf scale. Therefore, it is clearthat there is a place for both patient-specific and off-the-shelf therapeutics in regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine also requires a delivery systemadequately designed to maintain product control fromcellular acquisition to re-infusion. A key component ofsuch a system is an adequate logistics and transporta-tion network capable of accomplishing the coordinatedmovement of cellular material to accommodate patientand clinical schedules. The ideal system includes rele-vant control elements of cGMP to result in a most ef-ficient procedure for shipping human cells betweenphysicians’ offices, medical centers and laboratories fortreatment or for long term preservation.

Much progress has been made over the past 20years as the commercial reality of

cell therapies have arrived,

and the age of wide-scale application of blockbusterproducts is soon to be realized as data emerges fromthe numerous cell therapy trials currently underway. References

21CFR210--current good manufacturing practice in

manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding of drugs:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_09/21cfr21

0_09.html

21CFR211--current good manufacturing practice for

finished pharmaceuticals

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_09/21cfr21

1_09.html

21CFR1271--human cells, tissues, and cellular and tis-

sue-based products

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_09/21cfr12

71_09.html

21CFR11--electronic records; electronic signatures

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_09/21cfr11

_09.html

42USC§351 and 361 for the PHS’s

20

STUDIA

For much of the last decade, Americans, and in-deed much of the world, have debated the ethicsand morality surrounding embryonic stem cell

research. The idea of extracting live human cells fromembryos has inspired considerable vitriol from bothsides, and rightly so. On one side of the issue we havethose who support this kind of research. This groupclaims the ‘right to life’ movement is impeding theprogress of science, while those who disagree believethe opposition sacrifices the sanctity of human life inthe pursuit of life-saving cellular therapies. As the former Secretary of Health and Human Services,I had a front row seat for this ugly dispute, which con-tinues to divide our nation today. Organizations, faithgroups, businesses and politicians leaped into the fray,

investing considerable dollars and passion in defenseof their position. This argument has served no one, es-pecially the hundreds of millions of people around theworld suffering from disease and dangerous medicalconditions. However, today’s science has made this ar-gument obsolete. When I speak to my fellow citizens about adult stemcell therapies, most of them are thoroughly confused.They believe these therapies are on the distant horizonand employ human cells from live embryos, or thatthese therapies fall short of the potential of their em-bryonic siblings. Both views are patently false. The re-ality is that adult stem cells, which exist in nearly everytissue in our bodies and have been used in medicaltreatments for over 30 years, can now do nearly every-thing that the distant horizons of embryonic stem ther-apies one day hope to achieve. And most importantly,not one single human embryo is destroyed. It is the on-going, polarizing debate that has clouded a proper un-derstanding of this issue.It may come as a surprise, but last week The Vaticanhosted the first-ever International Conference on AdultStem Cells. Business leaders, ambassadors to The HolySee, health ministers from around the world, doctors,theologians, researchers and adult stem cell patients, allgathered within the walls of the Vatican to take part inthis historic partnership, the first of its kind in over1500 years of Vatican history. This landmark initiativeflows from the efforts of two extraordinary individuals:Dr. Robin Smith, The President of The Stem For LifeFoundation and CEO of NeoStem, who, joined by Fa-ther Tomasz Trafny of The Vatican’s Pontifical CouncilFor Culture, conceived of a working partnership be-tween the foundation and Council and brought it tothe attention of Pope Benedict XVI, who committedone million dollars of Vatican fundsto support its work over thenext five years. Its

ENDING THE DISPUTE OVER STEM CELL THERAPIES

Hon. Tommy G. ThompsonFormer United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson was elected Governor ofWisconsin in 1986 and served in that position until hisappointment as the United States Secretary of Health andHuman Services in 2001 where he was nation’s leadingadvocate for the health and welfare of all Americans.

Hon. Tommy G. Thompson 21

STUDIA

mission is to ‘wake up’ the world to the here-and-nowuses of adult stem cell therapies, and to form a collab-orative network of scientists and doctors devoted to theadvancement of adult stem cell therapies. The Popehimself met with the leaders of this partnership thispast weekend to discuss The Vatican’s historic engage-ment on this issue and plans for the years ahead. While embryonic stem cell research hopes to one dayemploy live cells from human embryos for the treat-ment of disease in others, to date there is not one singleembryonic treatment used in medical practice, andtheir safety and efficacy is years from being proved.Adult stem cells, by comparison, exist in nearly everytissue of our own bodies and have been used for over30 years. Bone marrow and cord blood treatments arethe most well known examples. However, in clinics andhospitals around the world, adult stem cells are alreadybeing used to regrow new organs, such as bladders, andare being used to reboot immune systems, reversingheart disease, cancer and countless auto immune dis-orders ravaging hundreds of millions of people aroundthe world.Most people have no knowledge of this, and this tragicreality is a consequence of the ugly argument over em-bryonic stem cell research. That day has to end. In-stead of fighting about ‘what not to do’ withembryonic stem cell research, it is high time that wefocus on ‘what can be done’ with adult stem cell ther-apies. Right now, if we invest in these treatments, wecan cure diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’sand Alzheimer’s and too many auto immune disordersto count. Right now, we have the potential to regrownearly all of our organs - and even limbs, somethingwe owe our men and women in uniform, who risktheir lives to serve our country. And finally, the daywhen victims of spinal cord injuries rise up from theirwheelchairs is no longer a fantasy.For years now, industry groups have called on theObama administration to forge a national strategy onregenerative medicine, but to date, nothing has beendone. And we need to do this right now. Our task

could not be more urgent. Right now, one outof every eight Americans has dia-

betes, a scourge on our na-

tion that is already costing us $200 billion dollars ayear. And if that number is not shocking enough, con-sider the fact that by 2050 one third of all U.S. citizenswill have diabetes. It is for this reason that I have called on PresidentObama to create a presidential-level commission forregenerative medicine. This group should be comprisedof leaders from private enterprise, individuals who havedeep experience translating the best scientific researchinto here-and-now, commercial cures. This commis-sion, in my view, should evaluate all of the federal pro-grams in existence and the best of private research, andmake specific recommendations to our President onhow to get things done fast. For starters, NIH mustbetter integrate its research in cellular therapies, which,despite the recent creation of a Regenerative MedicineCenter, is still spread out over the NIH’s 28 Institutesand Centers; and the Department of Defense must fur-ther its groundbreaking research into tissue generationand wound healing.In order to turn back the tide of human suffering, wemust rally as a people behind the vital role of adultstem cell therapies.

22

Hon. Tommy G. Thompson andCardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

STUDIA

The goal that is most often touted by those whoargue for aggressively pursuing stem cell researchis to provide benefits, treatments and cures, to

the patients who seek healing and relief from their terribleand tragic illnesses. I wish to propose that a key, but oftenmissing, part of this effort to bring healing to those inneed is transparency. Transparency not only in the in-formed consent sense of letting patients know the poten-tial risks and benefits of a procedure, but moreimportantly in the larger sense of our limitations and ourgoals regarding these patients and this research. To begin with, we need to do a much better job acknowl-edging the limitations of our concepts and our under-standing of what it is we are trying to do. We should learnfrom the results of biomedical research in the past 10-15years and admit that we don’t know nearly as much abouthealth and disease as we thought we knew. On the stemcell front, we hear repeatedly of how some researchershave to struggle against dogmas in the research commu-nity regarding the limitations of adult stem cells in orderto bring better treatments to their patients. This lack of understanding extends to the terms we useto discuss stem cell research. In stem cell debates the term“embryo” is employed with an alarming lack of precision.There are now several ways one can create an embryo thatare different from the normal interaction of sperm andegg. Current research indicates that one would find dif-ferences among these abnormally created embryos if onelooked at their protein levels or gene expression assays.

Would differences on that molecular level equate to dif-ferences on a moral or ontological level? For instance, weknow that fertilization can result in cellular masses, suchas complete hydatidiform moles, which often require sur-gical removal. So with all these variations, both molecularand organismal, how can anyone make claims regardingthe moral or ontological status of human embryos basedon inferences such as the percentage of embryos lost innatural conception? We need much more rigorous androbust reflection here, as well as more honesty about whatwe do and do not know. By being more transparent about our lack of understand-ing in stem cell research and treatment, the damage hypecauses to our fundamental goal of helping patients will be-come all the more apparent and all the more treatable itself.However, a second area of focus also needs to be addressedif we are to advance toward our goal of helping patients.This second focus is revealed when people respond to thelack of understanding mentioned above by arguing thatthis lack is best addressed by doing all the research that isscientifically indicated. Though this increase in researchis presented as the logical response to our lack of knowl-edge, it is not necessarily the logical response in terms ofthe goal of the biomedical project itself – to bring healingto patients. While more research may generate more ideasand products, the amount of benefit actually achieved bypatients is sadly lacking. There are currently several effortswithin the research world to create more rigorous stan-dards for research and development that will better insurepatient benefits, such as comparative effectiveness re-search. Effectiveness research has already revealed thatmerely spending more money on research may not onlycause harm by producing more ineffective developmentof treatments and products, but also this increasedspending can cause additional harm ifthe research funds are ob-

HUMANISM IN STEM CELL RESEARCH: NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR OPTIMIZATION

P. Kevin T. Fitzgerald, S.J.

Kevin T. Fitzegerald, Ph.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor andthe Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethicsin the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University.His research efforts focus on the investigation of abnormalgene expression in cancer and on ethical issues inbiomedical research.

23

24

STUDIA

tained by taking them away from other healthcare effortssuch as preventive medicine, health education, cleanwater infrastructure and access to the effective treatmentswe already have. After all, if overall patient benefit is thegoal, many more will be helped now by these public healthefforts than our current stem cell research is likely to benefitfor decades, if ever. And while additional funding for re-search need not necessarily take away resources from publichealth efforts, tragically it too often is a zero sum situation.The proposed focus on transparency in research andhealthcare does not result in the abolition of biomedicalresearch or publicly supported research funding. Insteadwhat occurs is research that conforms more closely to thebroadly embraced goals of more effective and more wide-spread patient care. In addition, it will also allow usgreater freedom to acknowledge the limitations of ourtechnologies and treatments, and thereby reduce inap-propriate patient expectation and exploitation. Ulti-mately this transparency increases that treatment we canalways give in abundance to our patients – care. What istruly clear is that real healing results most from the givingof real care.

P. Kevin T. Fitzgerald, S.J.

STUDIA

Tom Brokaw, in his new book, The Time of Our

Lives, writes: “As a journalist and a fully en-gaged citizen, I am both excited and more

than a little unnerved by the magnitude of the changeswe have seen and the prospects of those yet to come.We are swept up in a storm of new technologies thatare at once unifying, liberating and terrifying”. We are certainly living in a world undergoing profoundchange and transformation. Our times are one of thoseepoch making moments in history, like the emergenceof agriculture or the industrial revolution. The scien-tific-technological revolution, of which we are in themidst, has presented us with changes so profound thatmost of us do not even begin to comprehend them. Yetin our hearts we know that there is a fundamental shiftoccurring, one that affects humanity’s very self-under-standing. We have the opportunity to make significantprogress in the advancement and enhancement ofhuman life and well being. Yet we also have the poten-tial for great harm and destruction.What are some of the challenges that we face as wego forward and what is the role of education in sucha context? The profound hermeneutical dislocation of our globalera leads to the experience that the old metaphors andlanguage that explained our experience are no longeradequate for many people. We are in search of a newinterpretative language and metaphors for our experi-ence. In addition, there is the emergence of what hasbeen called an excessive individualism which is not iso-

lated to the western world but appears to be ever morepervasive globally. An additional challenge facing the human communityin the second decade of the twenty first century is theincreasing triumph of instrumental reason, that kindof rationality we draw on when we calculate the mosteconomic application of means to a given end. Increas-ingly, the best measure for success is maximum effi-ciency, the best cost-output ratio. Added to thischallenge is the significant withdrawal of many peoplefrom constructive engagement in the political dimen-sions of the human community and the privatizationof religion in western public life. These various challenges contribute to a pervasive senseof the loss of meaning and purpose in life. In the faceof these challenges, there is an eclipse of concern aboutour end or goal as human beings. Towards the end ofhis life, E.F. Schumacher, the German born Britisheconomist, described the contemporary society as “richin means and poor in purpose” in which “we are notusing the facilities the Creator has put at our disposalfor the purpose of attaining our end. We don’t eventhink about what our end is.”In such a context the purposes of education need to bere-affirmed so that education is not reduced to meretraining. Education seeks to strengthen students’ ca-pacities (and professors in this regard are lifelong stu-dents) to deal with the challenges facing the humancommunity, to expand their horizons, enrich their in-tellects and deepen and transform their spirits. Educa-tion, as classically understood, invites the students toaccept responsibility for their actions and for the wel-fare of others. John Henry Newman captured this acentury and a half ago when he wrote: “Theman who has learned to think and toreason and to compare

EDUCATION AS A CHALLENGE: NECESSARY TOOL FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D.President, International Federation of Catholic Universities

Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D. is currently serving his second termas president of the International Federation of CatholicUniversities, the oldest and largest international associationof Catholic Universities. He is a professor of theology and aformer president of Sacred Heart University.

25

STUDIA

and discriminate and to analyze, who has refined histaste and formed his judgment, and sharpened hismental vision, will not indeed at once be a lawyer, or astatesman, or a physician, or a man of business, or anengineer, or a chemist… but he will be placed in thatstate of intellect in which he can take up any one ofthe sciences or callings I have referred to with an ease,a grace, a versatility, and a success to which another isa stranger”. This kind of education traditionally referred to as “lib-eral education”, urges upon us humility of mind, a hos-pitality to other points of view as well as anintentionality to be open to correction and new insight.Such an education mitigates the challenges that weconfront as a human community and fosters a morehumane world for our children.Part of the purposes of a liberal education is capturedin the words “perhaps” and “thoughtfulness”. The word“perhaps” reminds us of the importance of toleranceand a deep sense of intellectual humility. It is whatSocrates was suggesting when he said that the unexam-ined life is not worth living. The word “thoughtfulness”suggests two dimension of a liberal education. First, itinvites us to be considering things deeply and carefully.

Secondly, it invites us to be considerate ofone another; the thoughtful

person thinks deeply and also cares about other humanbeings. Education at its best is assists men and womento be thoughtful in both senses of the word.The kind of education that is suggested here is vital toour efforts to create a better tomorrow. For Christiansand Jews as well as people of good will engagement inthis kind of education is part of God’s action of repair-ing and renewing the world. We are privileged to workat this noble task of education whether we are formally“teachers” or not.

Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D.

26

STUDIA

How would recent discoveries in the life sciencesaffect our understanding of who we are ashuman beings? I would like to begin my brief

presentation this morning by highlighting the fact thatmany of the ethical disputes that we have in the stemcell biology arise from disagreements over philosophicalpresuppositions and not scientific ones. To illustrate thisclaim, I would like to explore the philosophical anthro-pology that is presupposed by many molecular biologistsand secular philosophers and then contrast it with thephilosophical anthropology that is inherited by theCatholic tradition from Aristotle. I then propose that in-sights from the emerging science of systems biology canhelp us reconcile both worldviews.1

The vision of the human being that is presupposed bymodern biology – In fact modern science in general –has its roots in what is called the mechanical philoso-phy of the seventeenth century. Rene Descartes, the fa-ther of modern philosophy, is often linked to thisintellectual tradition. This view sees the human organ-ism as a machine made up of interacting parts like aclock. Moreover, it claims that if you understand howthe parts of the living thing function together then youunderstand that living thing, in the same way thatcomprehending how the parts of a clock work togetherleads one to understand the clock.This mechanistic worldview has been incredibly pro-ductive. For example, in my own research laboratoryat Providence College, my students and I are seekingto understand the mechanisms behind programmedcell death in yeast by identifying both the molecules

involved and their interactions with the other parts ofthe cell. Biologists routinely study cells, tissues, and or-gans, by examining how their parts work together. Ina sense, the parts are more than the whole.However, I suggest that this mechanistic worldview hasalso led to some profound philosophical difficulties inour understanding of ourselves as human beings. Forexample, there is a lot of good empirical data that sug-gests that 98% of the atoms of our bodies is replacedevery 650 days or so. Given this observation, I can aska simple question: Are you the same organism that youwere three years ago if practically all of the atoms inyour body have been replaced since then? Now, if you replace all the parts of a clock, our com-mon sense view suggests that you have a new clock. Infact, if I have a clock and I take all of its parts and re-place them with new ones, while simultaneously takingthe old parts and reassembling them into anotherclock, most people would say that the reassembledclock is the original clock while the clock with newparts is a new clock. However, we would not say thesame about ourselves. We would not say that we arecreated anew every few years. So, how then do we ex-plain the identity and continuity of living organismsthat change yet remain the same? How do we explainthe fact that we understand ourselves as enduringthroughout our entire lifespan – seventy years or eightyfor those of us who are strong (cf. Ps 90:10) – whileundergoing continuous change every day of our lives?An ancient solution to this philosophical problem,which I suggest is compelling, has roots in the thoughtof Aristotle who lived about four hundred years beforethe birth of Christ. In order to understand the CatholicChurch’s moral teaching regarding the status of thehuman embryo – the guiding principle behind her eth-

WILL ADVANCES IN THE LIFE SCIENCESCHANGE OUR VISION OF MAN?

P. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D..

P. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D. is AssociateProfessor of Biology at Providence College and a Catholic priestin the Order of Friars Preachers.

1For more extensive discussion not possible in this brief and introductory presentation, and for references to the scientific and philosophical literature, see my publishedessays, “On Static Eggs and Dynamic Embryos: A Systems Perspective” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly2(2002) 659–83; “Immediate Hominization from the Sy-stems Perspective,” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly24(2004) 719–38; and “The Soul and Its Inclinations: Recovering a Metaphysical Biology withthe Systems Perspective,” in The Human Animal: Procreation, Education, and the Foundations of Society, Proceedings of the X Plenary Session,18-20 June 2010, The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas (Vatican City: The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas,2011), pp. 48-63.For other recent defenses of the coherence and explanatory power of hylomorphic theory, see David Oder-berg, “Hylemorphic Dualism,” Social Philosophy and Policy 22 (2005) 70–99; and John Haldane, “A Return to Formin the Philosophy of Mind,” Ratio 11 (1998) 253–77.

27

STUDIA

ical view of stem cell research – you have to understandthis Aristotelian conceptual framework called hylomor-phism, because it is the basis for the Church’s philosoph-ical anthropology. The hylomorphic view is that all livingsubstances – yeast, elephants, and human beings – arecomposed of two metaphysical principles called formand matter. Form is what makes something what it is –a dog is a dog because of its dog form and an elephantis an elephant because of its elephant form – and matteris the stuff out of which that living organism, in a sense,is organized and brought into being by the form. There are three aspects of this metaphysical theory thatI would like to emphasize here. First, hylomorphism isa substantial view. It highlights the reality that sub-stances are real and that they can be distinguished frommere aggregates. The classical example of an aggregateis a pile of stones. I think that most reasonable indi-viduals would agree that there is something truly dif-ferent between you as a living organism and a pile ofstones. We have an integrity, a unity, and a purpose thatpiles of stones do not have. Next, hylomorphism is alsoa holistic view. With living organisms, the whole is reallyreal and can be truly distinguished from its parts. Indeed,the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. There areproperties of the whole that cannot simply be attributedto the parts working together as parts. In other words,

we are not mere collections of our atoms. We aremore than that. We are alive. Fi-

nally, hylomorphism can ex-

plain the stable dynamism of living organisms. Livingsubstances are stable because their form perduresthroughout all the change that they endure during theirlifetimes. In these three ways, hylomorphic theory is abetter description of our commonsense experience ofourselves as human organisms than its mechanistic rival.The question at hand, therefore, is this: How can wetranslate this classical view of the human person into alanguage that contemporary biologists and philosopherscan understand? I propose that insights from the emerg-ing field of systems biology can help us with this task. Systems biology posits that living cells are networks ofmolecules that are organized in a particular way. For ex-ample, biologists have used microarray technology – atechnology that can be used to study the behavior of allthe genes in a living sample simultaneously – to demon-strate that T cells, one class of the white blood cells inthe human body, express different genes from B cells,the other primary class of white blood cells in the im-mune system. Therefore, each cell type has a unique ge-netic signature. Each can be defined by the particularlyunique subset of molecules that they express and theunique interactions among them. This discovery – thatparticular kinds of cells can be defined by the molecularinteractions they contain – has been extended to the or-ganismal level as well. We now know that different or-ganisms as a whole can also be defined by the uniquemolecular interactions among the molecules that theyexpress. These species-specific interactions are often de-picted as “hairballs” that depict the complex interplay ofthe molecules in the organism. A yeast hairball is strik-ingly different from a human hairball. As human beings,our molecules are organized in a particular way – thehuman way – that is stable, dynamic, and unique.In light of these discoveries, I suggest that systems biol-ogy allows us to recover a more holistic and substantialview of living organisms that more accurately describesthe human being than the mechanistic alternative. I pro-pose that an organism is informed matter, defined hereas molecular matter organized in a species-specific net-work with its particular telos. Recall that according toAristotle, the form constitutes every being as a specifickind of thing with specific causal powers. The organizednetwork of molecules has a parallel function. It manifeststhe form. In contrast, the matter is the “stuff” out ofwhich the living thing is made. It is not the moleculesthemselves, but the most fundamental constituent of the“stuff” that living organisms are made off.

P. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D.

28

29

STUDIA

Notice that there are parallels between this conceptualframework, which I have called systems hylomorphism,and the classical Aristotelian hylomorphic worldviewthat is presupposed by the Catholic moral tradition.First, it is a substantial perspective. The molecular net-work of a living organism is real and constitutes awhole. It is also a holistic perspective because the wholeliving network can be distinguished from its molecularparts. Significantly, systems biology has challenged lifescientists to see that this whole cannot simply be re-duced to its parts. There are emergent properties thatcan only be predicated of the whole that comes intobeing when the parts are organized in a particular way.Finally, it is a dynamic perspective. Molecular changeis real – molecules enter and leave the system continu-ously – but the persistence of the living network is realtoo. In the end, this perspective can more robustly ac-count for the stable dynamism of the living organism– again, our commonsense experience of ourselves asorganisms – than the mechanistic account.The differences between the mechanistic and hylomor-phic views lead to significant ethical disagreements. Letme take one that impacts stem cell research. If a livingorganism is seen as a machine, then development isakin to the making of a clock. A clock comes into beingwhen it is able to function as a clock. That is how youknow that it is a clock. Thus, for moderns who implic-itly hold to a mechanistic anthropology, the humanbeing comes into being when the organism is able tofunction as a human being properly functions. Here

arises the widely held conviction today that the humanorganism properly comes into being only when he isable to think or to dream or to feel. This happens days,if not weeks, after fertilization.However, with the hylomorphic perspective, which Ihave argued is the better account than its mechanisticrival, we can see that the development of a living organ-ism is the unfolding of the molecular process defined bythe intra-molecular interactions established at fertiliza-tion that continues till death. Thus, properly under-stood, the human being as a substantial entity has hisorigins in conception when the union of sperm and egggive rise to the species-specific network that will governthe behavior of the living system until death. As such,both the human embryo and the human adult it will de-velop into should have the same moral status since, intruth, they are the same substantial being simply existingat two different moments in time.In closing, as a Catholic scholar, I have spoken of soulsand substances to describe living things, but my scien-tific colleagues and friends at M.I.T. and elsewhere, arenot able to understand what I am saying. With the sys-tems perspective that I have sketched here, however, Ican now speak about state cycles and scale-free net-works to approximate these metaphysical realities. Inthe end, it is my hope that this work of translation willfacilitate a conversation between divergent philosoph-ical anthropologies that will help us to move beyondthe impasse that predominates much of ethical discus-sion surrounding stem cell research today.

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

Il 30 novembre 2011 si è tenuta la XVI Seduta Pub-blica delle Pontificie Accademie, appuntamentoormai tradizionale dell’ultima parte dell’anno.

Quest’ultima edizione è stata organizzata dalla Ponti-ficia Accademia Romana di Archeologia e dalla Ponti-ficia Accademia Cultorum Martyrum, ed ha avuto cometema “Testimonianze e Testimoni. I martyria e i cam-pioni della fede”. La seduta è stata aperta dal saluto in-troduttivo di S.Em. il Cardinale Gianfranco Ravasi,Presidente del Coordinamento tra Accademie Pontifi-cie. Quindi è intervenuto il Cardinale Segretario diStato Tarcisio Bertone, che ha letto all’assemblea l’arti-colato e denso Messaggio del Santo Padre, riportato diseguito. In esso il Pontefice, oltre a valorizzare e pro-muovere la ricerca storica e archeologica e l’utilizzodelle nuove metodiche di scavo e di restauro, sottolineasoprattutto la valenza di messaggio insita nelle memorie

monumentali, che non può essere trascurata dagli stu-diosi nella loro “ricerca, motivata proprio dall’interesseper l’esperienza umana, e quindi anche religiosa, che sicela e poi si rivela attraverso le testimonianze materiali,comprese, appunto, come testimonianze, cioè comemessaggi che ci giungono dal passato e che, interpel-lando la nostra intelligenza e la nostra coscienza, con-tribuiscono ad approfondire le nostre conoscenze e, indefinitiva, anche la visione del presente e della stessanostra esistenza”. Il Cardinale Segretario di Stato ha quindi consegnato, anome del Pontefice, il Premio delle Pontificie Accademie.Anche quest’anno il Premio è stato assegnato ex aequo

ad una istituzione, lo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

di Gerusalemme, rappresentato da P. Carmelo Pappa-lardo OFM, e ad una studiosa, la Dott.ssa Daria Ma-strorilli. Con l’assegnazione del Premio allo Studium di

XVI SEDUTA PUBBLICA DELLE PONTIFICIE ACCADEMIE

Da sinistra: Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, Card. Tarcisio Bertone, Mons. Pasquale Iacobone

30

31

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

Gerusalemme il Santo Padre ha voluto sia riconoscerel’eccellenza della scuola archeologica che da decenniopera in Terra Santa sotto la guida di valenti maestri, acui si devono importantissime scoperte archeologiche,sia incoraggiare e sostenere la presenza cristiana in unterritorio che è stato la culla del cristianesimo, ma incui la presenza cristiana rischia quasi di scomparire acausa delle tensioni che durano da decenni e delle sem-pre maggiori difficoltà. Alla Seduta ha significativa-mente partecipato il Custode di Terrasanta, P.Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM, esprimendo così anche lagratitudine della Custodia per questo riconoscimentopontificio. A completare il quadro, e quindi a motivareulteriormente l’assegnazione del Premio, è stato proiet-tato un breve ma intenso filmato, realizzato dalla Raisu un progetto di Franco Scaglia, in cui si rievocava lafigura del grande archeologo francescano, recentementescomparso, P. Michele Piccirillo.Ha condiviso il Premio la Dott.ssa Daria Mastrorilli,per la sua tesi dottorale su “Il complesso cimiteriale diS. Zotico al X miglio della via Labicana dalla tarda an-tichità al Medioevo”, discussa sotto la direzione delprof. Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai presso l’Università degliStudi di Roma “La Sapienza”. Il Santo Padre ha voluto, inoltre, assegnare una Medagliadel Pontificato alla Dott.ssa Cecilia Proverbio, distintasicon la tesi dottorale su “La decorazione delle basiliche pa-leocristiane: un tentativo per ricostruire i cicli affrescatidi S. Pietro in Vaticano e di S. Paolo fuori le mura”.La Seduta è stata, poi, arricchita dalla interessante e do-cumentata relazione del Prof. Fabrizio Bisconti, Soprin-tendente Archeologico delle Catacombe Cristiane, su“I martyria e i campioni della fede”.Il complesso dei Vocalia Consort ha proposto durante lamanifestazione alcuni brani musicali a carattere religioso.Alla Seduta, svoltasi nell’Aula Magna del Palazzo SanPio X, ha partecipato un folto pubblico, tra cui diversiCardinali e Vescovi, un nutrito gruppo di Ambasciatoriaccreditati presso la Santa Sede nonché Autorità e Ac-cademici delle diverse Pontificie Accademie riunite nelConsiglio di Coordinamento.

Mons. Pasquale IacoboneOfficiale del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

In occasione della XVI Seduta Pubblica delle Pon-tificie Accademie sono lieto di farLe pervenire ilmio cordiale saluto, che volentieri estendo ai Pre-

sidenti e agli Accademici, in particolare a Lei, VeneratoFratello, quale Presidente del Consiglio di Coordina-mento. Rivolgo altresì il mio saluto ai Signori Cardi-nali, ai Vescovi, ai Sacerdoti, ai Religiosi e alle Religiose,ai Signori Ambasciatori e a tutti i partecipanti a questosignificativo appuntamento.L’annuale Seduta Pubblica delle Pontificie Accademieè diventata, infatti, tradizione consolidata, in cui sioffre sia l’occasione di un incontro tra i membri dellediverse Accademie riunite nel Consiglio di Coordina-mento, sia l’opportunità di valorizzare, attraverso il Pre-mio delle Pontificie Accademie, istituito dal mioVenerato Predecessore, il Beato Giovanni Paolo II, il23 novembre 1996, quanti, sia giovani studiosi o arti-sti, sia Istituzioni, con la loro ricerca e il loro impegnoculturale, contribuiscono a promuovere un nuovoumanesimo cristiano.Desidero, perciò, ringraziarLa per l’attenzione che ri-volge a tutte e a ciascuna Accademia, e per l’impulsoche ha voluto trasmettere ad esse perché siano davvero,e con efficacia, Istituzioni di qualificato livello accade-mico a servizio della Santa Sede e di tutta la Chiesa.La XVI Seduta Pubblica è stata organizzata dalla Pon-tificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia e dalla Pon-tificia Accademia “Cultorum Martyrum”, che vantanoentrambe una storia più che secolare, ricca di straordi-

narie figure di archeologi, studiosi e cultori delle an-tichità cristiane e delle memorie

martiriali.

Il tema proposto per questa Seduta Pubblica, “Testi-monianze e Testimoni. I martyria e i campioni dellafede”, ci offre l’occasione per riflettere su un elementoche mi sta particolarmente a cuore: la storicità del cri-stianesimo, il suo intrecciarsi continuamente con la sto-ria per trasformarla in profondità grazie al lievito delVangelo e della santità vissuta e testimoniata.La ricerca storica, e soprattutto quella archeologica, mi-rano a indagare sempre più accuratamente e con strumentidi ricerca quanto mai sofisticati le memorie, le testimo-nianze del passato; tra queste rivestono, per noi, un parti-colare interesse quelle delle antiche comunità cristiane.Si tratta, evidentemente, di testimonianze materiali, co-stituite da tutti quegli elementi – edifici ecclesiali, com-plessi cimiteriali, epigrafi e sculture, affreschi edecorazioni, manufatti di ogni genere – che, se studiatie compresi secondo corrette metodologie, ci permet-tono di riscoprire non pochi aspetti della vita delle pas-sate generazioni come pure della esperienza di fededelle antiche comunità cristiane, che lascia tracce sem-pre più consistenti nell’ambiente in cui viene vissuta.L’indagine archeologica può oggi avvalersi di straordi-nari mezzi tecnologici per le diverse fasi dello scavo edella ricerca sul campo, come pure per il recupero dimanufatti deteriorati dal tempo e dalle più avverse con-dizioni di conservazione. Penso, ad esempio, all’usodelle immagini satellitari, che si prestano a moltepliciforme di analisi, producendo risultati impensabili finoa qualche decennio fa; o all’applicazione della tecnicadel laser per il recupero di affreschi ricoperti da incro-stazioni, come è avvenuto recentemente nella cata-comba romana di Santa Tecla, dove sono stati riscoperti

MESSAGGIO DEL SANTO PADRE BENEDETTO XVI IN OCCASIONE DELLA XVI SEDUTA PUBBLICA

DELLE PONTIFICIE ACCADEMIE

Al Venerato Fratelloil Cardinale Gianfranco Ravasi

Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura

32

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

affreschi di eccezionale valore storico e artistico, tra cuiantichissime immagini degli Apostoli.Ma la tecnologia, pur utilissima, da sola non basta.Sono necessarie, innanzitutto, una reale competenzadei ricercatori, maturata attraverso studi approfonditie tirocini faticosi, e la loro passione autentica per la ri-cerca, motivata proprio dall’interesse per l’esperienzaumana, e quindi anche religiosa, che si cela e poi si ri-vela attraverso le testimonianze materiali, comprese, ap-punto, come testimonianze, cioè come messaggi che cigiungono dal passato e che, interpellando la nostra in-telligenza e la nostra coscienza, contribuiscono ad ap-profondire le nostre conoscenze e, in definitiva, anchela visione del presente e della stessa nostra esistenza.Se questo può valere per ogni indagine archeologica, amaggior ragione vale quando si studiano i monumenticristiani, e particolarmente i martyria, le testimonianzearcheologiche e monumentali che attestano il cultodella comunità cristiana per un campione della fede,per un martire.Tra i tanti siti archeologici in cui emergono i segni dellapresenza cristiana, uno eccelle su tutti e suscita un sin-golare interesse: la Terra Santa, con le diverse localitàin cui si è concentrata l’attività di ricerca archeologica.Il territorio, già fortemente segnato dalla presenza delpopolo di Israele, diviene anche l’ambito per eccellenzain cui ricercare i segni della presenza storica di Cristo edella prima comunità dei suoi discepoli. L’attività diindagine archeologica svolta negli ultimi decenni inTerra Santa, grazie all’impegno di grandi e appassionatiricercatori, come ad esempio Padre Bagatti, PadreCorbo e il compianto Padre Piccirillo, recentementescomparso, ha portato a notevolissime scoperte e ac-quisizioni, contribuendo così a definire sempre megliole coordinate storico-geografiche sia della presenza giu-daica sia di quella cristiana.Altro polo strategico dell’indagine archeologica è cer-tamente la città di Roma con il suo territorio, in cui lememorie cristiane si sovrappongono e si intreccianocon quelle della civiltà romana. Qui a Roma, ma anchein molte altre località dove il Cristianesimo si diffusegià nei primi secoli della nostra éra, si possono ancoroggi ammirare e studiare numerosi elementi monu-mentali, a cominciare proprio dai martyria, che atte-

stano non solo una generica presenza cristiana, ma so-prattutto una forte testimonianza dei cristiani e di co-loro che per Cristo hanno donato la propria vita, imartiri. Monumenti architettonici, tombe particolar-mente solenni e decorate con cura, ristrutturazioni deipercorsi catacombali o addirittura di quelli urbani, cosìcome tanti altri elementi artistici, attestano che la co-munità cristiana, sin dalle origini, ha voluto esaltare lefigure dei campioni della fede come modelli e punti diriferimento per tutti i battezzati.I numerosissimi interventi monumentali e artistici de-dicati ai martiri, documentati appunto dalle indaginiarcheologiche e da tutte le altre ricerche connesse, sca-turiscono da una convinzione sempre presente nella co-munità cristiana, di ieri come di oggi: il Vangelo parlaal cuore dell’uomo e si comunica soprattutto attraversola testimonianza viva dei credenti. L’annuncio della no-vità cristiana, della bellezza della fede in Cristo ha bi-sogno di persone che, con la propria coerenza di vita,con la propria fedeltà, testimoniata se necessario finoal dono di se stessi, manifestano l’assoluto primatodell’Amore su ogni altra istanza. Se osserviamo con at-tenzione l’esempio dei martiri, dei coraggiosi testimonidell’antichità cristiana, come anche dei numerosissimitestimoni dei nostri tempi, ci accorgiamo che sono per-sone profondamente libere, libere da compromessi e dalegami egoistici, consapevoli dell’importanza e dellabellezza della loro vita, e proprio per questo capaci diamare Dio e i fratelli in maniera eroica, tracciando lamisura alta della santità cristiana.I campioni della fede, lungi dal rappresentare un mo-dello conflittuale col mondo e con le realtà umane, an-nunciano e testimoniano, al contrario, l’amore ricco dimisericordia e di condiscendenza di Dio Padre che inCristo Crocifisso, il “testimone fedele” (cfr Ap 1,5), èentrato nella nostra storia e nella nostra umanità, nonper avversarla o sottometterla ma per trasformarla pro-fondamente e renderla così nuovamente capace di cor-rispondere pienamente al suo disegno di amore.Anche oggi la Chiesa, se vuole efficacemente parlare almondo, se vuole continuare ad annunciare fedelmenteil Vangelo e far sentire la sua presenza amichevoleagli uomini e alle donne che vivonola loro esistenza senten-

33

34

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

dosi “pellegrini della verità e della pace”, deve farsi,anche nei contesti apparentemente più difficili o indif-ferenti all’annuncio evangelico, testimone della credi-bilità della fede, deve cioè saper offrire testimonianzeconcrete e profetiche attraverso segni efficaci e traspa-renti di coerenza, di fedeltà e di amore appassionato eincondizionato a Cristo, non disgiunto da un’autenticacarità, dall’amore per il prossimo.Ieri come oggi, il sangue dei martiri, la loro tangibileed eloquente testimonianza, tocca il cuore dell’uomo elo rende fecondo, capace di far germogliare in sé unavita nuova, di accogliere la vita del Risorto per portarerisurrezione e speranza al mondo che lo circonda.Proprio per incoraggiare quanti vogliono offrire il lorocontributo alla promozione e alla realizzazione di unnuovo umanesimo cristiano, attraverso la ricerca ar-cheologica e storica, accogliendo la proposta formulatadal Consiglio di Coordinamento, sono lieto di asse-gnare ex aequo il Premio delle Pontificie Accademie Ec-clesiastiche allo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum diGerusalemme e alla Dott.ssa Daria Mastrorilli.Desidero inoltre che, come segno di apprezzamento edi incoraggiamento, si offra la Medaglia del Pontificatoalla Dott.ssa Cecilia Proverbio.Augurando, infine, un impegno sempre più appassio-nato nei rispettivi campi di attività, affido ciascuno allamaterna protezione della Vergine Maria, Regina deiMartiri, e di cuore imparto a Lei, Signor Cardinale, ea tutti i presenti una speciale Benedizione Apostolica.

Dal Vaticano, 30 novembre 2011BENEDICTUS PP XVI

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

D el 24 de noviembre al 15 de enero ha per-manecido abierta al público en el Braccio

di Carlomagno de la Plaza San Pedro laExposición Gaudí en Roma. Arte, ciencia y espiritua-

lidad, organizada por la “Junta Constructora de laSagrada Familia” y la “Fundació Joan Maragall”, delArzobispado de Barcelona, con el patrocinio, elapoyo y la colaboración del Consejo Pontificio dela Cultura. Más de treinta mil personas han visitadola exposición durante el periodo natalicio y han po-dido acercarse a la rica personalidad del autor deuna de las obras más emblemáticas de la ciudad deBarcelona.En efecto, la Sagrada Familia se ha convertido en elsímbolo de la capital catalana, y en su monumentomás visitado. Tras el cierre de las naves y la consa-gración del templo por el Papa Benedicto XVI ennoviembre de 2010, son más de 4 millones de visi-tantes los que recibe la Basílica de la Sagrada Fami-lia, una obra todavía en construcción, en la que lasgrúas y los andamios continúan su actividad en eltejado, a más de cien metros de altura, mientras lasmultitudes invaden el prodigio de luz, color y for-mas que es el interior del templo. A diferencia deotros monumentos emblemáticos, ya sea la TourEiffel, la Estatua de la Libertad o el Coliseo, el men-saje que transmite la Sagrada Familia no es unalarde técnico ni una afirmación de supremacía,sino un canto de alabanza al Creador, como siempresoñó Gaudì, quien imaginaba que los viandantes yviajeros, contemplando desde lejos la silueta airosay polícroma de las torres, y deletreando el escritoque aparece en ellas, “Santus, sanctus, sanctus”, seunirían, aun cuando fuese inconscientemente, al es-plendor de la liturgia del cielo.La exposición ha tratado de transmitir algo de la ge-

nialidad del arquitecto catalán y de su proyectovital, en el que la ciencia, el arte y la espiritualidadse entrelazan hasta fundirse en una única realidad.El visitante ha podido conocer los tres libros en losque se inspiró Gaudí para la Sagrada Familia: ellibro de la Escritura y su rico simbolismo; el librode la naturaleza, obra del Creador; y el libro de laliturgia, a cuyo servicio está el templo. De ahí la ricay fascinante estructura simbólica de un templo,donde no hay un detalle abandonado al azar, dondetodo es proporción, armonía, número, que remitea las grandes realidades de la Biblia, del dogma cris-tiano, de la celebración litúrgica. La exposición se inauguró el 24 de noviembre, conuna amplia representación de la Curia Romana yde la vida social, cultural y política de Barcelona.Hizo las veces de anfitrión el arzobispo de Barce-lona, el cardenal Lluís Martínez Sistach e intervi-nieron también el cardenal Gianfranco Ravasi, laEmbajadora de España ante la Santa Sede, el Presi-dente de la Generalitat de Cataluña, Artur Mas, ylos presidentes de las dos fundaciones que han or-ganizado la exposición en constante contacto conel Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura. El comisariode la exposición, el Arq. Daniel Giralt-Miracle ex-puso a grandes líneas el mensaje que la exposiciónha querido transmitir. En torno a la exposición han tenido lugar diversosactos, cuyo objetivo era encuadrar la figura deGaudí en su contexto artístico, histórico y social,así como presentar la actualidad y la necesidad decontinuar el diálogo entre la arquitectura y lo sa-grado. Sobre este último tema mantuvieron un in-teresante diálogo público el card.Ravasi y el arquitecto ita-liano Mario Botta

GAUDÍ EN ROMA. ARTE, CIENCIA Y ESPIRITUALIDADCRÓNICA DE LA EXPOSICIÓN Y ACTOS ACADÉMICOS

35

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

el pasado 12 de diciembre en la sede del MAXXI,el Museo de Arte del Siglo XXI, diseño de la arqui-tecta británico-iraquí Zaha Zahid. Un diálogo queha atraído la atención de el semanario L’espresso (28diciembre 2011), el cual ha recogido íntegramenteel coloquio entre el cardenal y el arquitecto. Enefecto, Gaudí representa una provocación paratodos: ha querido levantar un templo en medio dela ciudad moderna, utilizando el lenguaje eterno dela belleza, pero vertido en formas modernas, com-prensibles para el hombre de hoy. Gaudí planteacon fuerza la necesidad de recuperar el diálogo in-terrumpido entre la Iglesia y el arte contemporánea,so pena de seguir copiando modelos artísticos deotros tiempos, gastados y repetitivos, o bien de con-tinuar produciendo obras de arte sin contacto al-guno con la realidad, incapaces de satisfacer lasexigencias de la liturgia y del culto. Continuando las actividades en torno a la exposi-ción, el día 14 de diciembre tuvo lugar en el Palazzo

di Spagna, sede de la Embajada de España ante laSanta Sede, una mesa redonda en la que intervinie-ron Gian Maria Vian, director de L’Osservatore Ro-

mano, y el Prof. Ricard Torrents, primer rector dela Universidad de Vic, quienes disertaron acerca delcontexto histórico, social y cultural de la Cataluñade fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX que vionacer a Gaudí. Los autores establecieron interesan-tes conexiones entre el ambiente de la Renaixença

catalana y el Risorgimento italiano, que encuadranla figura de Antoni Gaudí.La exposición Gaudí en Roma tuvo su brillante clau-sura con un concierto de la Escolanía de la Abadíade Montserrat en la Iglesia de Santa María in Tras-tévere, presidido por el Cardenal Secretario de Es-tado, Tarcisio Bertone, acompañado por el card.Martínez Sistach. La popular iglesia, testigo de lapresencia cristiana de la primera hora en la Urbe,acogió un maravilloso concierto de voces blancas,

que interpretaron poemas de MnCinto Verdaguer, musicali-

zados por el monje montserratino Angel Rodami-lans, y una selección de cantos populares navideños.Al terminar, resonaron en las naves del templo lasnotas del Virolai, el himno a la Mare de Déu deMontserrat, interpretado por todos los asistentes.Fue sin duda el mejor broche para una serie de actosque han permitido dar a conocer la figura del Ar-quitecto de Dios, a quien Mons. Ragonesi, Nuncioen Madrid, denominó “El Dante de la Arquitec-tura”. No queda sino augurarse, como dijo el Car-denal de Barcelona, que podamos pronto ver en losaltares a Antoni Gaudí, y convertirlo en patrono delos artistas.

Melchor Sánchez De Toca AlamedaSubsecretario del Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura

36

37

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

Giunto alla XV edizione, il Tertio MillennioFilm Fest, organizzato dalla Fondazione Entedello Spettacolo, presieduta da Dario E. Vi-

ganò, con il Patrocinio del Pontificio Consiglio dellaCultura e del Pontificio Consiglio per le Comunica-zioni Sociali, ha proposto ancora una volta il cinemaquale momento di riflessione sui problemi e gli avve-nimenti del mondo contemporaneo e motore per delledomande che nessuno può più eludere.Il tema centrale per l’edizione 2011, è stato “Amore,morte, miracoli. Per una fenomenologia della societàcontemporanea”; perché il miracolo, la morte e l’amoresono cifre fondamentali del cinema: “Il Tertio Millen-nio Film Fest è per tradizione momento di riflessionesulla condizione dell’uomo nel mondo moderno,usando l’orizzonte cinematografico quale mezzo per ra-gionare e sviscerare i problemi e i disagi contemporanei,ma anche occasione per riflettere sull’ineffabile”, ha di-chiarato Dario E. Viganò, Presidente FEdS e DirettoreArtistico del Festival, che ha sottolineato: “Il tema cen-trale di quest’anno sottolinea come l’uomo sia da sem-pre in bilico tra la vita, il razionalismo e misticismo. Inquesto mondo, in cui sembra esserci poco spazio per ilmiracolo, il cinema si trova ad assumere su di sé il com-pito di restituirne la potenza, lo stupore, il bagliore sa-crale, senza ridurlo a un effetto scenico, unasuperfetazione visiva, un trucco tra i tanti”.I film sono stati proiettati presso il Cinema Sala Trevi,sala della Cineteca Nazionale del Centro Sperimentaledi Cinematografia di Roma dal 6 all’11 dicembre. Trale anteprime più attese, Atmen e Attack the Block. Ilprimo, diretto da Karl Markovics è il candidato perl’Austria agli Oscar 2012 come miglior film straniero.Una storia di disagio, quella di Roman, che uscito dalcarcere sulla parola si trova a dover affrontare i fantasmidel proprio passato.

Il secondo, Attack the Block di Joe Cornish,è un film di fantascienza dai ri-

svolti sociali in cui i veri alieni sono i teppisti di peri-feria. Tra le anteprime, ha trovato spazio anche Sette

opere di misericordia di Gianluca e Massimiliano DeSerio. Il film, che ha vinto numerosi premi all’esteroed è stato distribuito in Italia a gennaio 2012, è incen-trato sulle vicende della giovane Lumini a che, per cam-biare la sua vita, mette in atto un piano audace che laporta a scontrarsi con Antonio, anziano e malato, checambierà la sua vita. Sempre in anteprima, anche unEvento Speciale, la proiezione di S.O.S/State of Security,documentario di Michèle Ohayon, che racconta attra-verso testimonianze e interviste le falle dell’intelligencestatunitense in occasione dell’attentato dell’11 settem-bre. In chiusura, l’atteso Hors Satan di Bruno Dumont,film di raccordo con la rassegna “Il miracolo, probabil-mente”. La storia di un giovane, la cui vita è scandita

15° TERTIO MILLENNIO FILM FEST

38

39

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

dalla caccia e dalla preghiera, e il suo rapporto con laragazza che abita in una fattoria limitrofa e si prendecura di lui. Un’ambientazione particolarissima per unfilm presentato a Cannes 64 nella sezione “Un Cer-tain Regard”.Il secondo giorno del Festival ha riservato al pubblicoulteriori eventi speciali a partire da I giorni contati diElio Petri, opera restaurata dal Museo Nazionale delCinema di Torino in collaborazione con La Cinetecadi Bologna presso il Laboratorio L’Immagine Ritrovata.Introdotto al pubblico da Alberto Barbera, il film(1962) focalizza con precisione ed efficacia l’estraneitàdel protagonista dalla società.A seguire, un incontro con il Direttore dell’Institut Lu-mière di Lione e delegato generale del Festival di Can-nes che ha ricevuto dalla Fondazione Ente delloSpettacolo il Premio Speciale Cinema per essersi di-stinto nell’opera di divulgazione del lavoro di conser-vazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio

cinematografico. Al termine della cerimonia di premia-zione, Thierry Frémaux ha presentato un’antologia difilm restaurati dei fratelli Lumière.L’8 dicembre è stata la volta del Focus talent: R zvanR dulescu & Melissa de Raaf, coppia di sceneggiatorie registi protagonista del risveglio del cinema rumeno.Con First of All, Felicia, il loro esordio dietro la mac-china da presa, e Shelter di Dragomir Sholev, l’ultimacollaborazione, racconteranno al pubblico il loro soda-lizio artistico.Anche quest’anno, il festival ha riservato al pubblicodegli Incontri con autori e attori italiani. Il 9 dicembreil regista Francesco Patierno ha raccontato la genesi delfilm Cose dell’altro mondo e ha risposto alle domandedegli spettatori. Il 10 dicembre, gli attori Cristiana Ca-potondi e Antonio Catania, con un moderatore d’ec-cezione: Mimmo Calopresti, hanno incontrato ilpubblico ripercorrendo in “Cinema è sogno” le lorocarriere e trasportando gli spettatori nel magico splen-

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

dore del mondo del cinema.Quest’anno il Festival è stato arricchito anche dalla ras-segna “Il miracolo, probabilmente (L’occhio laico dellamessa in scena)”: la sezione si è aperta con Ordet – La

parola, capolavoro del 1955 di Carl Theodor Dreyer,per arrivare ai giorni nostri con Lourdes, vincitore di Pre-mio FIPRESCI, Premio SIGNIS e Premio “La Navi-cella” alla 66. Mostra Internazionale d’ArteCinematografica di Venezia, Stellet Licht di Carlos Rey-gadas, Premio della Giuria al 60. Festival di Cannes, eIl ragazzo con la bicicletta dei fratelli Dardenne, GrandPrix al 64. Festival di Cannes e Premio Bresson a Vene-zia 68. Opere che, come Il tempo dei miracoli di GoranPaskaljevic e Hors Satan, raccontano come il miracolooggi si insinui tra le pieghe del reale, più che sovvertirlo.Sempre nell’ambito del Festival, venerdì 9 dicembre,nel corso di una serata di gala, è avvenuta l’annuale as-segnazione degli RdC Awards: a Guido Chiesa il premio

“Diego Fabbri” al miglior saggio di cinemaper il suo Manuale di regia cine-

matografica, edito da

UTET; a Giuseppe Battiston il Premio Navicella – Fic-tion; a Sette opere di misericordia dei gemelli torinesiGianluca e Massimiliano De Serio il Premio Navicella– Cinema Italiano; a Franco Piersanti il Premio Co-lonna Sonora. Come di consueto, nell’ambito dellaconferenza di presentazione del Festival è stato inoltreassegnato il premio Rivelazione dell’anno che nel 2011è andato a Filippo Scicchitano, protagonista del filmScialla! di Francesco Bruni.Il Festival è stato anticipato dal Convegno Internazio-nale “Film and Faith” tenutosi l’1 e il 2 dicembre pressola Pontificia Università Lateranense e organizzato dallaFondazione Ente dello Spettacolo in collaborazione conil Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura, il Pontificio Con-siglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali, l’Ufficio Nazionaleper le Comunicazioni Sociali della Conferenza Episco-pale Italiana e la Pontificia Università Lateranense.Ideale tappa di avvicinamento a Tertio Millennio FilmFest, il convegno, diviso in cinque sessioni, è stato oc-casione per analizzare le implicazioni della Fede e le suenarrazioni nel mondo contemporaneo, per approfon-dire l’essenza del sacro nelle immagini cinematografichecon interventi, tra gli altri, dei registi Milcho Manchev-ski (Prima della pioggia) e Pavel Lounguine (L’isola –

Ostrov) e delle massime cariche ecclesiastiche, di gior-nalisti ed esperti italiani e stranieri. Grazie alla collabo-razione con il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia– Cineteca Nazionale, a conclusione della prima gior-nata dei lavori, è stata inoltre proiettata la versione re-staurata de Il bacio di Giuda (1988) alla presenza delregista Paolo Benvenuti.Mandiamo in archivio questa edizione e già si lavoraper la prossima: auguri per la XVI rassegna del TertioMillennio Filmfest 2012.

A cura dell’Ente dello Spettacolo

40

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

It was twenty years ago that Azerbaijan, a tiny oil richcountry in the Caucasian region got its independencefrom the Soviet Union. Since then, it has been making

rapid strides into the diplomatic world. And has been wor-king hard to showcase its multicultural heritage. The colla-boration between the Pontifical Council for Culture andAzerbaijan has been growing in leaps and bounds speciallybecause of the untiring efforts of Mr. Elchin Amirbayov, Am-bassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See. The warm collabo-ration has in the past seen the organization of an ArtExhibition of Art Exhibits, a concert of Mugham music, a hi-ghly fruitful Official Visit of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, Pre-sident of the Pontifical Council for Culture to Baku.Another major landmark in this vivid collaboration was therecent Concert held in Rome at Villa Miani, on November29, 2010, to mark the 20th anniversary of the New Republicof Azerbaijan. The Concert by Azerbaijani artistes regaled ahuge audience comprising of Cardinals, Bishops, priests, re-ligious and others, with Azerbaijani traditional music splat-tered with Classical western melodies. The musical eventwhich was followed by a lavish buffet was organized in bythe Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy Seein collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Culture andunder the patronage of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The

First Lady of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar AliyevFoundation, Dr. Mehriban Aliyeva and the President of thePontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasijointly preside at the function. Dr. Aliyeva in her addressthanked Cardinal Ravasi for all the collaboration in the cul-tural field with her country and promised to sponsor resto-ration work of some Christian catacombs and sarcophagi inRome. Cardinal Ravasi in his intervention appreciated theclose collaboration between Azerbaijan and the Dicasteryheaded by him. While thanking the First Lady for the offerof sponsorship, he expressed confidence that this gesture ofthe Aliyev Foundation would be a stellar example of colla-boration between the Holy See and a Country that is inha-bited by predominantly Muslims and in which the catholicpresence is negligible. Earlier, before the start of the concert, Dr. Alieya had a meetingwith His Eminence, who was accompanied by his collaboratorsat the Pontifical Council for Culture: Bishop Barthélemy Adou-konou, Secretary, Bishop Carlos Alberto Azevedo, Delegate,and Fr. Theodore Mascarenhas, Head of the Departments forCultures in Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Fr. Theodore Mascarenhas SFXHead of the Departments for Cultures in Asia, Africa and Oceania

AN AZERBAIJANI CONCERT COMES TO TOWN

41

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

Organizado por el Instituto Ciencia y Fe delAteneo Pontificio “Regina Apostolorum” ypor el Instituto Notre Dame of Jerusalem,

con el patrocinio del Consejo Pontificio de la Culturay del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Italia, ha te-nido lugar un seminario sobre el tema El Dios del uni-

verso y las leyes de la naturaleza. Fe y ciencia en las

religiones monoteístas, del 4 al 9 de diciembre 2011. Enel seminario, celebrado en el emblemático albergueNotre Dame de Jerusalén, situado enfrente de la ciudadvieja, han participado Rafael Pascual, Rav Riccardo diSegni, Prof. Mustafá Abu Sway, Pietro Ramellini,Guido Traversa, William Carroll, Costantino Sigis-mondi, Pedro Barrajón, Avinoam Danim y MelchorSánchez de Toca, en dos intensas jornadas.Ciencia y fe interactúan, a veces de manera conflictiva,otras positivamente. Los ponentes examinaron diversoscasos, tanto desde un punto de vista general como par-ticular, en campos como la astronomía o la biologíaevolutiva. La misma curiosidad que empujó a Moisésa acercarse a la zarza ardiente, recordó el Rabino diSegni, sigue impulsando a los hombres de ciencia a in-vestigar la naturaleza. El espíritu crítico del científicono impide el encuentro con Dios.Judaísmo, cristianismo, Islam concuerdan en el hechode que la naturaleza expresa la voluntad de Dios “demodo obedientísimo”, según la conocida afirmación deGalileo. Cuando surge un desacuerdo entre las Escri-turas y las ciencias naturales, o bien nos hallamos anteun modelo científico que todavía tiene que madurar, obien la interpretación de la Biblia es imperfecta. Lafragmentación cada vez mayor, la especialización de sa-beres ha creado un hiato entre la sabiduría, la capacidadde dar gusto a las cosas, y el hombre. Hacer ciencia sincomprender el sentido y el fin de lo creado lleva a laparadoja de una universidad donde en departamentos

contiguos trabajan personas y se realizan pro-yectos recíprocamente ignora-

dos e incomprensibles. Lo contrario del concepto de“universitas”.Si teólogos y científicos no dialogan, permanecerán lassuspicacias que han marcado la historia del pensa-miento occidental. Teólogos-científicos o científicoshumanistas pueden hacer el diálogo más simple. Lasuniversidades católicas tendrían que tener el valor derenovar sus programas educativos, valorando en lasciencias la peculiaridad de ser cristianos. A las univer-sidades civiles corresponde una tarea simétrica, cuyaausencia es particularmente sentida en el mundo cul-tural y científico. La contribución del pensamiento auna sociedad empeñada en la globalización y la crisiseconómica, a pesar de ciertos indudables éxitos parcia-les, pero incapaz de ir al meollo de los problemas, esmás urgente que nunca. Teólogos, filósofos y científicosdeben encontrar nuevos caminos de diálogo, buscandola anhelada visión orgánica y unitaria del saber, capazde dar al hombre de hoy una repuesta global a los gran-des interrogantes del universo y de su existencia en él.

Constantino Sigismondi

CIENCIA Y FE EN LA CIUDAD SANTA

42

43

DE NAVITATE DICASTERII

In data 10 gennaio 2012, il Segretario di Stato,Card. Tarcisio Bertone, ha reso pubblico che ilSanto Padre ha costituito la “Fondazione Scienza e

Fede – STOQ”, con sede nello Stato della Città del Va-ticano, dotata di personalità giuridica pubblica cano-nica e civile.La Fondazione – creata su richiesta del Cardinale Gian-franco Ravasi, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio dellaCultura, facendo propri i desideri di alcune universitàpontificie romane – darà continuità e stabilità al Pro-getto STOQ (Science, Theology and the Ontological

Quest), che, nato sulla scia della Commissione di Stu-dio del Caso Galilei, istituita dal Beato Giovanni PaoloII, dal 2003 ha promosso il dialogo tra la teologia, lafilosofia e le scienze naturali attraverso iniziative di stu-dio, di ricerca e di divulgazione culturale, anche grazieal supporto di diverse istituzioni, tra cui la John Tem-pleton Foundation. La Fondazione “Scienza e Fede – STOQ”, la prima delsuo genere in Vaticano, continuerà la costante e quali-ficata collaborazione istauratasi negli ultimi anni tra ilPontificio Consiglio della Cultura e alcune UniversitàPontificie Romane: Pontificia Università Lateranense(PUL), Pontificia Università Gregoriana (PUG), Pon-tificio Ateneo Regina Apostolorum (APRA), PontificiaUniversità Salesiana (UPS), Pontificia Università dellaSanta Croce (PUSC) e Pontificia Università Urbaniana(PUU). Essa rimarrà legata al Pontificio Consiglio dellaCultura attraverso il suo Presidente, ma godrà di ampiaautonomia per realizzare progetti di vasta portata,anche attraverso questi centri di studio. La nuova Fondazione darà continuità ai progetti già at-tivati e ne garantirà la necessaria stabilità. Tra questi, visono programmi di studio e corsi accademici (Specia-lizzazioni, Master e Dottorato); attività di ricerca (Se-minari, Workshop, Convegni) e di divulgazione,

attraverso la pubblicazione di articoli, l’organizzazionedi conferenze/corsi di aggiornamento e l’allestimentodi mostre sui temi più rilevanti che riguardano i rap-porti tra le scienze naturali e la filosofia e la teologia.La Fondazione diventerà così un solido centro di rife-rimento presso la Santa Sede per una ‘nuova evangeliz-zazione’ degli ambienti scientifici. La Fondazione avrà la sua sede provvisoria presso gliuffici del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura, dove è at-tualmente in fase di allestimento la Biblioteca “Prof.Peter E. Hodgson” – fisico nucleare inglese (1928-2008), già Consultore del Pontificio Consiglio dellaCultura e illustre promotore del dialogo tra scienza efede – che ha voluto donare in eredità al ProgettoSTOQ la sua imponente biblioteca di scienza e reli-gione, ora patrimonio della “Fondazione Scienza e Fede– STOQ”.

Ulteriori informazioni: http://www.stoqproject.it ;stoq@stoq.va

NUOVA FONDAZIONE IN VATICANODEDICATA AL DIALOGO

TRA LA SCIENZA, LA TEOLOGIA E LA FILOSOFIA

44

MISCELLANEA

Si è svolta a Parigi, dal 25 ottobre al 10 novembre2011, la 36ª sessione della Conferenza Generaledell’UNESCO, con la partecipazione delle dele-

gazioni di 193 Stati Membri, oltre ai rappresentanti deiPaesi Associati, degli osservatori, delle organizzazioniintergovernative e non-governative. Eventi rilevanti di quest’ultima sessione sono stati l’am-missione all’UNESCO della Palestina e del Sud Sudan.Sono state annunciate le celebrazioni, previste per il2012, per il 40° anniversario della Convenzione sullaProtezione del Patrimonio Culturale e Naturale. Inol-tre, la Conferenza delle Nazioni Unite Rio+20 sulloSviluppo Sostenibile, che si terrà nel giugno 2012, of-frirà all’UNESCO una nuova opportunità di creareuna connessione tra cultura e sviluppo.Particolare attenzione è stata dedicata al programma

Education for All, che si pone lì obiettivo di assicurarel’istruzione primaria a tutti i bambini del mondo entroil 2015, così come allo sviluppo sostenibile e alla cul-tura della pace e della non violenza.All’interno della Conferenza Generale è stato poi cele-brato il decimo anniversario della Dichiarazione Uni-versale sulla Diversità Culturale.Sono state infine dichiarate due nuove giornate inter-nazionali: la Giornata Mondiale della Radio, il 13 feb-braio, e la Giornata Internazionale del Jazz, il 30 aprile.

Della delegazione della Santa Sede, guidata da S.E.R.Mons. Francesco FOLLO, Osservatore permanente dellaSanta Sede presso l’UNESCO, ha fatto parte P. LaurentMAZAS, Officiale del Pontificio Consiglio della Cul-tura, di cui intervento pubblichiamo di seguito.

36a sessione della Conferenza Generale dell'UNESCO

P. Laurent Mazas

45

MISCELLANEA

Monsieur le Président,Mesdames et Messieurs,

Le grand programme IV de l’UNESCO se présentecomme un plaidoyer pour la prise en compte de la cul-ture et du dialogue interculturel dans les politiques dedéveloppement afin de promouvoir une culture de lapaix et de la non-violence. Pour atteindre ce vaste ob-jectif, l’Organisation propose différents axes d’actiondont la promotion du dialogue interculturel pour unrenforcement de la cohésion sociale.Le nouveau siècle à peine commencé a déjà été traversépar de nombreuses crises économiques et financières,sociales et morales, culturelles et religieuses qui toutessont une crise de l’humanisme. Une large part deshommes et des femmes sur la terre ne perçoivent plusà l’horizon de leur existence qu’une nuit toujours plussombre et angoissante, nuit de faim et de misère, nuitde haine et de violence où tout semble permis au nomdes libertés individuelles. « Où en est aujourd’hui lacause de la paix ? », s’interrogeait le Pape Benoît XVI àAssise, le 27 octobre dernier, devant les représentantsdes religions du monde réunis à son invitation avec àleurs côtés des humanistes agnostiques. Et il avertissait :« La liberté est un grand bien. Mais le monde de la liberté

s’est révélé en grande partie sans orientation, jusqu’à être

comprise par beaucoup comme liberté pour la violence. La

dissension prend de nouveaux visages effrayants et la lutte

pour la paix doit, tous, nous stimuler de façon nouvelle. »L’extraordinaire projet de l’UNESCO, Organisationnée au lendemain de la guerre avec la conviction que« les guerres prenant naissance dans l’esprit deshommes, c’est dans l’esprit des hommes que doiventêtre élevées les défenses de la paix », l’oblige aujourd’huià s’interroger à nouveau sur sa capacité à offrir lesconditions d’un nouvel humanisme, comme l’a re-connu à mainte reprise sa Directrice Générale, Ma-dame Irina Bokova.Le Saint-Siège veut dire à cette vénérable Institution –et elle l’a fait à l’occasion du lancement du Parvis des

Gentils le 24 mars dernier – que ce nouvel humanismene peut advenir sans une rencontre en vérité d’hommeset de femmes de toutes les religions et convictions,croyants et incroyants, et la prise de conscience pasca-

lienne que « L’homme passe infiniment l’homme ». Si,selon Dante, l’homme est fait pour « transhumaner »,c’est qu’au plus profond de son être il cherche ses rai-sons de vivre au-delà de lui-même. Avec le Pape BenoîtXVI dans son discours déjà cité, je veux le redire ici :« L’orientation de l’homme vers Dieu, vécue avec droiture,

est une force de paix. »La culture est le lieu propre de l’interrogation sur latranscendance comme les millénaires de l’histoire hu-maine nous l’enseignent. Organisation mondiale vouéeà la protection et au développement des cultures,l’UNESCO se doit d’ouvrir des espaces de dialogue etde rencontre pour que les hommes, ensemble, enmarche vers la vérité, s’engagent résolument pour la di-gnité de l’homme, de chaque homme et de toutl’homme, et servent en frères la cause de la paix contretoutes sortes de violences destructrices du droit.

46

MISCELLANEA

Recognising the global nature of challenges fa-cing humankind, the World Science Forum wascreated by the Hungarian Academy of Scien-

ces, UNESCO and the International Council forScience (ICSU) in the quest for meaningful dialogueamong the various stakeholders of knowledge, scientificcommunities, policy makers and societies. The Forumseeks to provide the scientific community and publicpolicy makers with a global platform to exchange, di-scuss and harmonize their ideas in respect to the gro-wing interdependence of science with society.

Held in Budapest between 17 and 19 November 2011 forthe fifth time, the World Science Forum has become a mee-

ting of globally recognised scientists drawing serious inter-national attention. The main theme was “The ChangingLandscape of Science – Challenges and Opportunities”.With the contribution of world-leading scientists, sciencepolicymakers presented the geographical, thematic, andsocial aspects of this subject focusing on some of the mostburning issues of science and global society.The official launch ceremony at the Hungarian Aca-demy of Sciences headquarters, on 16 November

2011, was attended by approximately 650 participantsfrom 108 countries. The Pontifical Council for Culturewas represented by Msgr. Gergely KOVÁCS, Head ofOffice and Rev. Tomasz TRAFNY, Head of Science andFaith Department.

A HUNGARIAN SUCCESS STORY:THE FIFTH WORLD SCIENCE FORUM

Opening Session at Hungarian Academy of Sciences

MISCELLANEA

On 17 November 2011 morning, the greeting wordsof József Pálinkás, President of the Hungarian Aca-demy of Sciences, were followed by the opening speechof Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, who saidrepresentatives of both science and politics are to lookfor new ways of reaching their appointed goals. In hisvideo message, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Mooncalled attention to the importance of protecting the en-vironment, thereafter Director General of UNESCOIrina Bokova stressed the importance of co-operation.According to the President of ICSU Yuan Tseh Lee wehave to redefine the priorities of development. DirectorGeneral of the American Association for the Advance-ment of Science, Alan I. Leshner, said that we face un-precedented challenges. We have to do a better job inco-ordinating scientific co-operation on the national,international, and global levels, emphasised Brazil’sPrime Minister Aloizio Mercadante. In his video mes-sage, astronaut Sergei Volkov set an example by refer-ring to the close collaboration he and his partners haveto accomplish even under pressure by taking into con-sideration each others’ interest.The opening session was followed by the UNESCO’sprize ceremony, where Irina Bokova, Director-General ofUNESCO and Madiha Ahmed Al Shaibani Minister ofEducation in Oman gave the Sultan Qaboos Prize forEnvironment to the Nigerian Forestry Research Institute.The prize recognizes outstanding initiatives concerningthe management and preservation of the environment.The participants of the Forum continued the discussionin plenary sessions. The First Session dealt with the maintheme of the Forum: “The Changing Landscape ofScience: Challenges and Opportunities”. Speakers, chairedby József Pálinkás, talked about the challenges and oppor-tunities generated by a changing world of science.The Second Plenary Session – “Emerging Powerhousesin Science and Technology” – provided a thorough geo-graphical survey of the changing landscape of today’sscience. Chaired by President of the Brazilian Academyof Sciences Jacob Palis, the session offered a truly mul-tifarious picture of what goes on in the scientific life ofmuch of the planet’s surface.In the afternoon the third Plenary Session was dedicatedto “New fields of science emerge”. In fact, on the world

map of science, new fields of science are emerging, offe-ring possibilities of new fields and new procedures in re-search. Werner Arber Nobel Laureate and President ofthe Pontifical Academy of Sciences opened the session byhighlighting the importance of advanced technology inscience, and mentioning examples of the enormous pro-gress science has made in the last ten to twenty years.The first day closed with two parallel thematic sessions:“Heading for Global Research Universities” thinking aboutthe role of universities in an age when science and economyare becoming global, and “Prevention is better than cure”,dedicated to emerging and re-emerging infections. On the second day, 18 November 2011, a special ple-nary session, the fourth, was dedicated to factors dri-ving changes in the “landscape of science”. The sessionwas chaired by EASAC’s President and former ForeignSecretary of the Royal Society Sir Brian Heap.Before the lunch break, three parallel thematic sessionswere held: “Networks made life, life makes networks” fo-cused on the role and impact that biological, mathema-tical, computational and communicational networkshave on society; “Co-operation even beyond the regionallevel” examining how different institutions can adaptthemselves to the increasingly global realities of the mo-dern world and science, and a Youth-Ways Session on“Scientific collaboration in the changing landscape of sci-ence: new generation of science and researchers”.In the afternoon, the fifth Plenary Session, the last,chaired by Dong-Pil Min, Honorary Chairman SeoulS&T Forum, analyzed and attempted to harmonize theethical, environmental, economic, social and culturalimpacts of scientific discoveries.Two thematic parallel sessions closed the day: “Whatwill international science be like in 20 years?” tryingto depict the future, basing the predictions on thestrategic plan of the ICSU for 2012-2017, and manyforeseeable economic, social, political and environ-mental events, and “Sustainable Food Production”dedicated – in the face of the Earth’s overpopulation– to strike a balance between mankind’s growingneed for sufficient food and the preservation of theEarth’s biodiversity.

On 19 November 2011, the closingsession of World Science

47

MISCELLANEA

Forum was held in the Parliament Building, as usual.Cooperation was a key motif in the address of the Hun-garian deputy prime minister, Tibor Navracsics. “Whoknows better the challenges facing us than people inscience?” asked Paul Rübig, the European Parliament’sScience and Technology Options Assessment chairman.Patrick Amuriat Oboi of the Ugandan government ana-lyzed why science should be proactive in an era in whichscientists work together with industry, investors, and ci-vilians. Ulla Burchardt, chair of the Bundestag’s Com-mittee on Education, Research and TechnologyAssessment expressed some worries, however, because ofthe great social imbalance facing many countries. Therole of a collective will remains too often in the back-ground, complained Remi Barré of the French researchfacility CNAM.In the closing plenary lectures, Hungary’s President PálSchmitt also emphasized the importance of co-operation,

the harmonization of actions on the level ofindividuals, institutions, nations.

The ethical responsibility of

science to cause no harm is tied up with its great achie-vements, said Katalin Bogyay, president of the 36th Ge-neral Conference of UNESCO. The highlight of the World Science Forum closing event was– for the first time in the Forum’s history – the endorse-ment of the “Declaration on a New Era of Global Science”.In order to distribute the achievements of this enter-prise and to make it a true world event, the HungarianAcademy of Sciences – with the consent of UNESCO,ICSU, and AAAS – has proposed to change the formatof the World Science Forum so that it is organized onevery second occasion in a partner country. With thewelcome offer of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences ithas been decided that the 2013 World Science Forumwill be organized in Rio de Janeiro.

Msgr. Gergely KovácsHead of Office, Pontifical Council for Culture

48

Plenary Session at Hungarian Academy of Sciences

MISCELLANEA

With the encouragement and support of our partnerorganisations, the United Nations Educational, Scien-tific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the In-ternational Council for Science (ICSU) and all invitedorganisations and fellow scientists, we, the participantsof the Budapest World Science Forum held from 17 to19 November in Budapest, recognizing the relevanceof the outcomes of 1999 World Conference on Science(WCS) and taking into account the reports of the bian-nual World Science Forum (WSF), as well as the de-bates and the outcomes of this World Science Forumon the “Changing Landscape of Science: Challengesand Opportunities”, adopt the present declaration.

1. The treasure of scientific knowledge and its under-lying research approaches are a common heritage of hu-mankind. More than ever before, the world will beshaped by science.

2. The first decade of the third millennium has wit-nessed steady and fundamental changes in the globallandscape of science. The scale and scope of thesetransformations are so robust that a new milestonein the history of science has been reached, and a newera of global science has commenced. This new erapresents challenges and opportunities bringing polit-ical, social and policy implications on a previouslyunseen scale.

3. The growing complexity of grand challenges in-cluding population growth, climate change, foodsupply, energy shortages, natural and technologicalcatastrophes, epidemics, and sustainability requirethat the world’s scientific establishments assumenew roles.

4. New scientific fields have appeared and continue tocarve out their niches in the general field of science.

5. The unforeseen spread of information and commu-nication technologies, the inexpensive and instant ac-cess to information resources and databanks, and thefall of communication barriers between countries andcommunities have accelerated the accumulation anddissemination of knowledge.

6. The former triadic dominance of North America,Europe and Japan in global knowledge productionhas been seriously challenged, and a new multipolarworld of science has emerged accompanied by therise of new scientific powerhouses, which are nownot only prominent actors in world economy buthave become key players in cutting edge re-search and development activities.

DECLARATION OF THE BUDAPEST WORLDSCIENCE FORUM 2011

ON A NEW ERA OF GLOBAL SCIENCE

49

Preamble

MISCELLANEA

7. In this new context of global science, science diplo-macy is now an acknowledged tool to promote part-nership among nations by fostering scientificco-operation.

8. Educational systems have received strong supportfrom their respective governments to the extent thatemerging countries currently produce more universitygraduates and PhDs than the developed world thus re-arranging the entire global “knowledge map”. In spiteof these new developments the US, EU and Japan arestill leaders in scientific performance and continue toinvest heavily in research and innovation. The compe-tition is more intense and more open than ever beforein the world arena of science.

9. The expansion of scientific networks has alsochanged the circle of actors participating in researchactivities. A field once dominated by states andtheir research networks of national academies,learned societies, and universities is now comple-

mented by a complex network of global companies,international organisations, and individual re-searchers who are attracted to the best available re-search infrastructure.

10. The accelerating “knowledge economies” have gen-erated new migration patterns for scientists and in-creasing mobility. Both the winners and losers of braindrain are facing the need for more intensive co-opera-tion between universities, public research organisations,and industry in both graduate and post-graduate edu-cation and the elite training of scientists.

11. The advancements in science have also shed light onnew and previously unforeseen concerns. Climatechange, the large-scale and irreversible impact of humancivilization on the world’s fauna and flora, an overcon-sumption of natural resources, and their respective con-sequences require stronger involvement from bothscientists and society. Developments in many researchfields (e.g. genetics, biotechnology, neuroscience, nuclear

50

Closing Session in the Parliament Building

MISCELLANEA

physics, etc.) have considerable moral and ethical impli-cations that require an urgent and global dialogue be-tween scientists and the broader public.

Recommendations

In light of this declaration, we make the following rec-ommendations:

1. Responsible and ethical conduct of research and in-novationIn this era of global science, the scientific establishmentneeds to implement continuous self-reflection to ap-propriately evaluate its responsibilities, duties and rulesof conduct in research and innovation. A universalcode of conduct addressing the rights, freedoms andresponsibilities of scientific researchers, and the univer-sal rules of scientific research should be shared by the

world’s scientific community. Furthermore, these rulesand policies should be respected by the states andadopted by their national legislations.Scientists should strengthen their individual and insti-tutional responsibilities to avoid possible harm to so-ciety due to ignorance or misjudgement of theconsequences of new discoveries and applications ofscientific knowledge.It is the responsibility of those who promote scienceand scientists to maintain the primacy of moral and so-cial concerns over short-term economic interest in theselection and implementation of industrialised researchprojects.

2. Improved dialogue with society on scientific issuesIn times of rapid and fundamental changes in the so-cial environment, the sciences should be supportedin their co-operative efforts to describeand evaluate with the best

Closing Session in the Parliament Building

51

MISCELLANEA

available methods the consequences of policy actionsand explorations of both natural and social sciences.Participation of societies should be promoted in orderto make science more democratic and to build furthertrust in science. To this end societies must be preparedto knowledgably discuss the moral and ethical conse-quences of science and technology by strengtheningpolicies to enhance awareness and public understand-ing of science and improving and broadening the scopeof education.

3. International collaboration in science should bepromotedBetter international co-ordination is needed for scienceresearch projects focusing on global challenges. Inter-national co-operation is essential for decreasing theknowledge divide and regional disparities.The free co-operation and movement of scientistsshould be promoted by the elimination of harmful bu-reaucracy and false regulation and by providing thefunds to further international co-operation.To avoid repetition, redundancy, and excessive expensein scientific research, the international scientific com-munity should be involved in the development of animproved method to monitor past and present researchactivities and their results.

4. Collaborative policies to overcome knowledge-di-vides in the WorldThe rapid development and increasing cost of sciencecombined with the expansion of patent policies andregulations have further widened the knowledge andeconomic divide between the developed and develop-ing world. In a world where the best science and thebest researchers are attracted only by excellent researchinfrastructures, developing countries should be sup-ported in their efforts to build their research capacities.However, co-funded actions for building capacities canonly be successful if support is provided in a sociallyresponsible way and if it creates a win-win situation forboth the promoter and the recipient. Brain-drain and

brain-gain policies should be co-ordinatedfor the joint benefit of all af-

fected countries.

5. Capacity building for science needs to be strengthenedScientific discoveries are foundations for innovationand social and economic development. Investment inscience provides a capacity for future development at anational level and an opportunity to face global chal-lenges internationally.It is primarily the responsibility of governments to in-crease support for science and develop effective policiesfor technology and innovation.Comprehensive actions should be taken to strengthenthe role of women in science and innovation and to ex-pand the participation of women in science and sciencepolicy making.The socio-economic impacts of science and scientificcapacity are well-documented. National parliamentsand governments are urged to declare their commit-ment to seek scientific advice during the decisionmaking process. An institutionalisation of such anadvisory process is necessary; informed decisions re-sult in great savings.There is an urgent need to elaborate new, effective sci-ence policies at national, regional and global levels tobetter co-ordinate and monitor scientific researchworldwide, to harmonise university education systems,and to facilitate global and regional scientific co-oper-ation based on equity and participation.

52

MISCELLANEA

Le « Centre catholique international de coopéra-tion avec l’UNESCO » (CCIC), le « Comité in-ternational pour la promotion des arts et de la

culture » et le « Parvis des Gentils » a organisé une l’ex-position « Entre ciel et terre », dans le cadre d’une jour-née dédiée au dialogue interculturel avec la Chine. Le12 janvier, le Forum étudiants a réuni 300 étudiantschinois des Grandes écoles pour les aider à découvrirla culture française, et il était suivi du colloque Y a-t-ilun ciel sur terre ? Li Zili est un peintre français né en Chine en 1962,dont les œuvres dépeignent des paysages contempo-rains, des habitudes et des de l’Orient et l’Occident àtravers des scènes de la vie en Provence et dans la régionde Shangri-La en Chine (province du Yunnan). Li Zili,peintre post-impressionniste moderne, diplômé del’École des beaux arts de Paris, nous invite « à réfléchirsur la relation de l’homme à la nature » aux détoursd’une plage, d’un bord de mer, d’une prairie ou d’uneterrasse de café. En France ou en Chine, la même séré-nité teintée de spiritualité se dégage des toiles de Li Zili.Nous publions le discours à l’ouverture de l’expositionde P. Laurent MAZAS, du Conseil Pontifical de la Cul-ture, Directeur du « Parvis des Gentils ».

Je suis, comme beaucoup parmi vous, pris de vertigeaprès la magnifique intervention du Professeur Giès surun thème traité avec une telle compétence et un telbrio. Je ne suis pas capable de le suivre sur le même che-min, aussi me permettrez-vous – je l’espère – de vouspartager certaines « impressions » à partir de l’œuvrede Li Zili, lui-même peintre « impressionniste » ou« postimpressionniste », comme il se définit lui-même. Je voudrais commencer par saluer cette œuvre.Contrairement à la grande majorité d’entre vous, je neconnais que très peu l’immense patrimoine culturel dela Chine, et je ne me sens pas autorisé à porter un ju-

gement esthétique et théorique sur l’originalité de sapeinture. Et telle n’est pas la raison pour laquelle noussommes ici. Mais à la regarder, il suffit de peu de tempspour se laisser prendre par le langage de son art et selaisser transporter « entre Ciel et Terre », dans ce mondeparticulier parce que fécondé par des héritages culturelsfort différents. Vous me demandez quels sont les points de conver-gences et de divergences quant à nos racines culturelleset spirituelles particulières entre français et chinois. Lesphilosophes discutent des liens entre nature et culture,ce qui ne dépend pas de nous et ce qui en dépend, qui

ENTRE CIEL ET TERREEXPOSITION AU SIÈGE DE L’UNESCO

53

Baie turquoise (Provence), 2011

MISCELLANEA

naît du génie de l’homme et qui enrichit la vie de toutepersonne en tendant à la rendre meilleure. Je dirais quela nature, la terre, nous est commune, que l’homme quicultive le blé en France est le frère en humanité de celuiqui arpente les rizières de Chine. Et pourtant les cieux

sont autres, le Ciel, lieu symbolique de l’Esprit,revêt d’autres tonalités dans les cam-

pagnes de l’Hexagone et

celles de l’Empire du Milieu. La lumière y est diffé-rentes parce que l’esprit de l’homme s’y est pris diffé-remment pour interpréter la terre, la vie, le sens del’existence, de la souffrance, l’Au-delà, bref, toutes lesgrandes interrogations sur notre condition humaine. En jouant de la dialectique spatiale entre Ciel et Terre,il apparaît clairement que l’homme est appelé à trouverle lieu de son existence : est-il, comme l’indique le mot

54

Harmonia (Provence), 2011

55

MISCELLANEA

générique, Adam, essentiellement fait de terre, modelédans la glaise et donc fatalement empêtré dans la boue,voire la fange et la vermine, les bas-fonds de l’existencehumaine avec tout ce qu’elle peut comporter de vil etde laid ? ou est-il appelé à prendre les chemins, em-prunter la voie qui l’arrache à la terre et le conduit auciel, à la lumière, à la pureté et la légèreté de l’esprit, àl’illumination. La Voie, le Chemin, l’itinéraire, le pèle-rinage sont autant de termes religieux, disons de l’es-prit, qui appartiennent en commun, même conçu demanière totalement différente, à l’héritage de nos cul-tures plurimillénaires.Si je reviens à la peinture de Li Zili, je ne peux m’em-pêcher de réfléchir à la question du rapport et de laplace de l’homme moderne dans la société. La sociétémondialisée ne peut se permettre d’imposer un ciel uni-forme, uni chrome, sous peine d’appauvrir terrible-ment les horizons de l’existence humaine. Le gris n’estpas une dominante de l’œuvre de Li Zili, et c’est heu-reux. C’est pourtant la couleur dominante d’une terresans ciel, d’une société sans culture où l’économie et latechnique ne sont plus les instruments d’un vivre meil-leur, et où l’information est de plus en plus l’instrumentdu dictat de l’argent et de pouvoirs souterrains. Le grisest la couleur dominante d’une culture qui n’est plus àla recherche de la sagesse, qui ne met plus le ciel au-dessus de la terre – ou le ciel sur la terre… –, qui nevoit plus l’unicité de l’homme et son absolue dignité,l’homme qui court sur les chemins du monde et s’élèvesur les cimes de montagnes jusqu’à vouloir toucher lalune. L’homme qui sans cesse se tourne vers le soleilpour y capter ses rayons et y recevoir, avec la lumière,une chaleur, une chaleur qui le sauve de la froideur denos cités toutes faites de béton gris. Français et Chinois ont à trouver chacun leur placedans le monde d’aujoud’hui et de demain, et Li Zilinous rappelle que pour cela, il faut que l’Homme, leCiel et la Terre y trouvent aussi chacun leur place.L’homme ne peut survivre sans la terre, sans un cheminsur lequel poser ses pas, sans un sol pour y garder l’em-prunte de ses mouvements. Et l’homme ne peut êtreprivé de ciel, de culture, de valeur spirituelle, et… per-mettez-moi de le dire… de religion – s’il veut menersur cette terre une vie digne d’être vécue : s’il n’y avait

la lumière du ciel, qu’elle soit du soleil le jour ou seu-lement un rayon de lune la nuit, comment avancerait-il sur la Voie, comment s’élèverait-il de la fange etéviterait-il les sables mouvants que le mal s’efforced’étendre sous ses pas ? C’est en suivant les inspirationde l’esprit qu’il peut s’extraire du sol et s’élever vers unciel de liberté. La paix si chère à l’UNESCO dépend de la capacitéde l’homme à s’extraire de la terre, de son individua-lité, pour s’ouvrir au ciel de la culture, c’est-à-dire àl’universel. Nous avons, avec Li Zili, l’exemple d’unartiste qui dépeint des paysages, les mœurs et les cou-tumes d’Orient et d’Occident, et qui place l’hommedans des situations géographiques et culturelles di-verses. Mais une interrogation est comme transver-sale, et peut se lire ainsi : qu’est-ce donc que cettequête constante de l’homme, depuis la nuit destemps, cet Adam qui recherche le ciel, la beauté, laquiétude, le repos dans le bien ? L’artiste capte l’émotion, et s’il constate la singularitédes cultures et des spiritualités, il veut partager ses im-pressions qu’il pressent comme profondément hu-maines – et donc en quelque sorte comme universelles.Les Églises et les Temples bouddhistes sont pleines del’émotion et du silence d’hommes et de femmes qui onten commun la recherche d’une vérité qui les trans-forme : de la terre dont ils sont pétris, ils aspirent à lalumière qui transfigure. Tout cela se traduit en un artde vivre apaisant… encore faudrait-il que nos contem-porains en fassent une règle de vie. La recherche de lafélicité, du bonheur, naît de la capacité à voir, à recon-naître : la vision du ciel bleu, la vision de la terre ocre,l’attention à la nature… la capacité à se re-situer « entrele Ciel et la Terre ».

56

CONCORSI

Il Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura promuovedue Concorsi di rilievo internazionale:il Premio delle Pontificie Accademie

e il Premio di Musica Sacra “Francesco Siciliani”

Il primo Concorso, il cui Premio ammonta a Euro 20.000.000, è curato dellaPontificia Insigne Accademia di Belle Arti e Lettere dei Virtuosi al Pantheon. Inquesta edizione il Concorso è riservato a giovani Artisti o Istituzioni di ogni na-zionalità attivi nei campi dell’architettura, pittura, scultura, la cui opera o attivitàcontribuisca in modo rilevante allo sviluppo delle scienze religiose, dell’umanesimocristiano e delle sue espressioni artistiche.

Il secondo Concorso (I° Premio di Euro 5.000) nasce dalla collaborazione tra laFondazione Perugia Musica Classica – Sagra Musicale Umbra e il Pontificio Consigliodella Cultura. Il Concorso intende promuovere una composizione musicale per coro, con o senzaorgano, sul testo del Simbolo Apostolico.L’iniziativa tende ad arricchire il patrimonio musicale a carattere religioso attraversol’incontro tra i testi sacri e la nuova grammatica della musica contemporanea, cosìda sviluppare una musica sacra in grado di mediare tra antico e moderno. Proprio in quest’ottica, nella prima edizione del Concorso, anche in vista dell’Annodella Fede, i musicisti partecipanti si confronteranno nella composizione di uno deitesti cardine della tradizione cristiana.Il Premio è intitolato a Francesco Siciliani, per cinquant’anni promotore e animatoredella Sagra Musicale Umbra, una delle più antiche rassegne musicali d’Europa.

Per informazioni e per ricevere il Bando dei due Concorsi si può inviare richiestaa: arte@cultura.va.

RECENSIONES

El Prof. Lambert, doctor en Física y en Filosofía,es profesor de física teórica en la UniversidadCatólica de Namur y consultor del Consejo

Pontificio de la Cultura, además de brillante conferen-ciante y escritor, autor de numerosas publicacionessobre historia y filosofía de la ciencia. La Srta. Paul-Boncour es ingeniera y doctor en física, investigadoraen el CNRS, consagrada de la Comunidad del Ema-nuel. En ellos se da una rara combinación de saberes yde vida necesaria para abordar una obra como esta. Enefecto, ambos poseen una doble ciudadanía intelectual:por una parte, una carrera científica, que se ejerce me-diante la docencia o la investigación en centros espe-cializados; por otra, sólidos conocimientos de filosofíay teología, a lo que se añade una vida cristiana generosa,activa y fecunda. El resultado de su colaboración ha sido un libro escritoa cuatro manos, una obra original que ha venido a cu-brir un vacío persistente. A diferencia de otras obras que tratan de distintosaspectos de la ciencia desde una perspectiva creyente,no nos hallamos aquí ante un tratado sobre la posiblearticulación entre la ciencia y la fe, si bien el lector en-contrará algunas consideraciones breves de gran utili-dad. No es tampoco un tratado de apologética parahacer frente al ateísmo, clásico o nuevo, que se inspiraen la ciencia para negar la existencia de Dios. Su pro-pósito es, si se quiere, más simple y, al mismo tiempo,tremendamente ambicioso. Se trata de ofrecer pautasde orientación, reflexiones, consejos para vivir concre-tamente la vocación cristiana en un ambiente científico.Es un libro, por tanto, dirigido a aquellos católicos (enrealidad, desborda los márgenes estrictamente confe-

sionales y podría valer para cualquier cristiano) que en-señan materias científicas en la universidad, o que tra-bajan en centros de investigación científica, paraayudarles a lograr una existencia unificada, en dondela docencia, la oración, el trabajo de investigación, lasrelaciones con los compañeros, se integren armónica-mente en la persona, superando peligrosas escisionesinteriores. Los autores, con esta obra no pretenden re-solver los numerosos y fascinantes problemas de tipoteológico, metafísico o ético que las ciencias ponen alhombre de hoy. No pasan revista a los nuevos modelosinterpretativos en cosmología o biología, buscando sucompatibilidad con la fe. Se limitan a sugerir cómovivir la propia fe en un tipo de comunidad académicamuy característica, que es el mundo científico. Eviden-temente, muchas de las consideraciones del libro po-drían valer para el resto del mundo universitario, asícomo para el trabajo intelectual en general. Sin em-bargo, es en el mundo de las ciencias naturales dondeel debate con la fe ha sido más áspero, donde vivir con-cretamente la fe parece más difícil y, por tanto, dondese sentía más la necesidad de una guía.Sin duda, una de las cualidades más notables del libroes su lenguaje. La formación científica de los autores sepercibe detrás de cada línea en el lenguaje escueto yconciso propio de las publicaciones científicas, horrode toda retórica vana. La experiencia personal de vidacristiana y el conocimiento de primera mano de los am-bientes científicos añaden quilates a unos contenidosde por sí muy valiosos. Es, pues, una obra claramentepropedéutica, orientada a la vida personal del lector,que será también de gran provecho para el profano enla materia.El libro se estructura en torno a cuatro ejes: estudio,vida en común, oración y testimonio. El primero deestos ejes, el estudio, plantea radical-mente la exigencia para el cien-

SCIENTIFIQUE ET CROYANT

57

Pistes de réflexion pour les chercheurs et enseignants catho-liques, Paris, Éd. De l’Emanuel, 2011, 210pp. ISBN-978-2-35389-157-3

RECENSIONES

tífico cristiano de darse una formación filosófica y teo-lógica capaz de responder a los interrogantes que plan-tea su trabajo como científico. En esta parte, quizá lamás teórica, los autores abordan, de manera sucintapero esencial, los problemas de la articulación entre elconocimiento científico y el de la fe, mostrando con al-gunos ejemplos concretos cómo puede llevarse a cabouna distinción de niveles de conocimiento, respetuosade los contenidos y la metodología, que tienda sin em-bargo hacia una visión unificada del saber. La dimen-sión comunitaria del trabajo es una característica de losestudios científicos, a diferencia de las humanidades,en las que suelen predominar empresas solitarias. Esraro hallar un artículo en una revista científica firmado

por un solo investigador, mientras que en elmundo de las letras es la norma. El

trabajo en equipo, la compe-

tición, a veces feroz, en el mundo de la investigación,la convivencia durante largos períodos de tiempo en la-boratorios o centros de investigación, la participaciónen congresos, son aspectos importantes de la vida delcientífico, que han de integrarse en una vida cristiana,cuya característica es precisamente la vida común. Encuanto a la oración del científico, ésta posee acentospropios: la adoración, la alabanza, la intercesión y lasúplica son dimensiones que el científico tiene que viviren su misma actividad, no como algo separado de ella.Por último, el testimonio remite a la vocación evange-lizadora de todo cristiano, también del científico, de-sarrollada normalmente en un ambiente difícil. Losautores enumeran el testimonio de la vida, el testimo-nio de la palabra, a tiempo y a destiempo y, por último,el testimonio mediante la humanización de las relacio-nes y el compromiso ético. Para el Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura esta obra re-presenta la culminación de un largo camino, en cuyagénesis y desarrollo ha tenido parte notable. La inicia-tiva de ésta se debe a una idea, largamente acariciadapor el Prof. Lambert, de publicar un documento de ca-racterísticas similares. En su momento, este proyectorecibió el beneplácito y el aliento del Cardenal Pou-pard, Presidente del Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura,apoyo continuado por el actual presidente, el Card.Gianfranco Ravasi, quien firma el prólogo de esta edi-ción. Se presenta así, en cierto sentido, con el aval delConsejo Pontificio de la Cultura, como un instru-mento, no el único, pero sí necesario, para promoverla evangelización de los ambientes científicos, empe-zando por reforzar la vida de fe de los cristianos queviven en ellos. Para el próximo año de la fe, difícilmentese podría haber encontrado un subsidio mejor.

Melchor Sánchez De Toca AlamedaSubsecretario del Consejo Pontificio de la Cultura

58

LIBRI

Fernando BEA – Alessandro DE CAROLIS, Ottant’annidella Radio del Papa. Vol. I: Fernando BEA, Da Pio XIa Giovanni Paolo II (1931-1981). Vol. II: AlessandroDE CAROLIS, Giovanni Paolo II – Benedetto XVI (1978-2011). Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana,2011, VIII-298 p. (vol. I), 364 p. (vol. II), euro 90,00.

BENEDETTO XVI, Cassiodoro il Grande. Nota biografica di Franco CAR-DINI. Cronologia a cura di Antonio TARZIA. Squillace(Catanzaro), Associazione Centro Culturale Cassio-doro, 2011, 32 p.Il problema di Dio nel mondo contemporaneo. Un’anto-logia a cura di Umberto CASALE. Torino, Lindau, 2011,400 p., euro 24,00.

Giuseppe BETORI, Parole e segni per dire la fede neltempo. Prefazione del card. Gianfranco RAVASI. Firenze,Casa Editrice Le Lettere, 2011, 86 p., euro 12,00.

Kari Elisabeth BØRRESEN e Adriana VALERIO (edd.),Donne e Bibbia nel Medioevo (secoli XII-XV) tra rice-zione e interpretazione. Premessa di Gianfranco RAVASI.Trapani, Il Pozzo di Giacobbe, 2011, 424 p., euro35,00.

Renato e Riccardo BURIGANA (a cura di), Il Mediterra-neo e le città. Prospettive economiche, culturali e spiritualitra le città, le regioni e i popoli del Mediterraneo. Atti delConvegno (Firenze, 15-17 maggio 2011). “ColloquiaMediterranea”, Quad.-1. Firenze, Fondazione Gio-vanni Paolo II, 2011, 384 p. euro 25,00.

Adriano CAPRIOLI, Cattedrale, simbolo di vita. Le tappedi un cammino. Prefazione di Gianfranco RAVASI. Reg-gio Emilia, Edizioni San Lorenzo, 2011, 244 p., euro12,00.

CENACOLO “CLEMENTE REBORA”, Trent’anni di poesia.Savigliano (CN), Associazione Culturale Cenacolo“Clemente Rebora”, 2010,167 p.

Giulio CIPOLLONE – Clara ORLANDI, Aborigeno con gliaborigeni per l’evangelizzazione in Australia. Il testo dellaRelazione (1883) per Propaganda Fide del vescovo Ru-desindo Salvado. Presentazione di Claude PRU-DHOMME. Città del Vaticano, Libreria EditriceVaticana, 2011, 502 p., euro 45,00.

Conversazioni su scienza e fede. A cura del Centro diDocumentazione Interdisciplinare di Scienza e Fededella Pontificia Università della Santa Croce. Torino,Lindau, 2012, 232 p., euro 18,50.

Mariano DELL’OMO, Storia del monachesimo occidentaledal Medioevo all’età contemporanea. Il carisma di san Be-nedetto tra VI e XX secolo. Milano, Jaca Book, 2011,XXII-615 p., euro 65,00.

Duccio DEMETRIO, La religiosità degli increduli. Per in-contrare i «gentili». Padova, Edizioni Messaggero, 2011,158 p., euro 11,00.

Giuseppe DE RITA – Antonio GALDO, L’eclissi della borghe-sia. Roma-Bari, Editori Laterza, 2011, X-91 p., euro 14,00.

Nicola DI BIANCO, Educarsi alla nuova evangelizza-zione. Leumann (Torino), Editrice ELLEDICI, 2011,80 p., euro 7,50.

Maria Luisa DOGLIO – Carlo DELCORNO (a cura di),Predicare nel Seicento. Bologna, il Mulino, 2011, 236p., euro 18,00.

Nikola ETEROVI (ed.), la Parola di Dio nella vita e nellamissione della Chiesa. XII Assemblea Generale Ordina-ria del Sinodo dei Vescovi. Esortazione Apostolica po-stsinodale Verbum Domini. Città del Vaticano, LateranUniversity Press, 2011, 1132 p., euro 65,00.

Ettore GOTTI TEDESCHI, Le ragioni dell’economia.Scritti per L’Osservatore Romano. Città del Vaticano,Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011, 168 p., euro 14,00.

Ireneusz Wojciech KORZENIOWSKI, La funzione dell’er-meneutica veritativa di Gaspare Mura nella teologia fon-damentale. Fede e ragione. Teologia e filosofia in dialogo.Prolusione di Mons. Rino FISICHELLA. Premessa delCard. Gianfranco RAVASI. Postfazione del Rev. AntonioSABETTA. Città del Vaticano, Lateran University Press,2011, 480 p., euro 30,00.

Roberto MASTACCHI – Ryszard KNAPI SKI, Credo. Laraffigurazione del Simbolo Apostolico nell’Arte europea.Prefazione di John T. SPIKE. Siena, EdizioniCantagalli, 2011, 224 p., euro16,00.

LIBRI

59

LIBRI

Daniele MENOZZI – Marina MONTACUTELLI (eds.),Storici e religione nel Novecento italiano. Brescia, Edi-trice Morcelliana, 2011, 446 p., euro 28,00.

Flaminia MORANDI, Olivier Clément. Profeta dell’unità.Milano, Paoline, 2011, 256 p., euro 16,00.

Antonio PAOLUCCI, Arte e bellezza. Brescia, Editrice LaScuola, 2011, 95 p., euro 10,00.

Gianluigi PASQUALE – Carmelo DOTOLO (edd.), Amoree verità. Sintesi prospettica di Teologia Fondamentale.Studi in onore di Rino FISICHELLA. Città del Vaticano,Lateran University Press, 2011, 904 p., euro 70,00.

Gianfranco RAVASI, Cantico dei cantici…come sigillo sul cuore. Postfazionedi David M. TUROLDO. Cinisello Balsamo (MI), Edi-zioni San Paolo, 2011, 242 p, euro 15,00.Le parole del mattino. 366 riflessioni per un anno. Mi-lano, Mondadori, 2011, 426 p., euro 19,00.

Paolo RICCA, La fede cristiana evangelica. Un commentoal Catechismo di Heidelberg. Con 64 illustrazioni neltesto. Torino, Claudiana, 2011, 384 p., euro 19,00.

Ugo SARTORIO, Fare la differenza. Un cristianesimo perla vita buona. Assisi, Cittadella Editrice, 2011, 256 p.,euro 15,80.

Roger SCRUTON, La bellezza. Ragione ed esperienza este-tica. Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2011, 184 p., euro 16,00.

Vitaliano TIBERIA (a cura di), Annali della Pontificia InsigneAccademia di Belle Arti e Lettere dei Virtuosi al Pantheon,vol. XI/2011. Città del Vaticano, Accademia dei Virtuosial Pantheon – Palombi Editori, 2011, 629 p., euro 39,00.

UCSEI (UFFICIO CENTRALE STUDENTI ESTERI IN ITA-LIA), Sguardi incrociati sul colonialismo. Le relazionidell’Europa con l’Africa, l’Asia e l’America Latina. Roma,UCSEI, 2006, 560 p.

Annibale ZAMBARBIERI e Giorgio OTRANTO (a cura di)– Consulta Universitaria per la Storia del Cristianesimoe delle Chiese (CUSCC), Cristianesimo e Democrazia.Atti del I Convegno di Studi (Pavia, 21-22 settembre

2009). Bari, Edipuglia, 2011, 340 p., euro35,00.

* * *

Jutta BURGGRAF, Fomentar la unidad. Teología y tareasecuménicas. Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos,2011, XXX-225 p.

Annibale FANTOLI, Galileo. Por el Copernicanismo y porla Iglesia. Estella (Navarra, España), Editorial Verbo Di-vino, 2011, 543 p.

Simona LANGELLA, Teología y ley natural. Estudio sobrelas lecciones de Francisco de Vitoria. Madrid, Bibliotecade Autores Cristianos, 2011, XXXVIII-329 p.

Agustín MORENO MUGURUZA, Gramática nambya.Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011, XVI-237 p.

Juan José PÉREZ-SOBA, El amor: introducción a un mi-sterio. Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011,XXXVI-425 p.

PONTIFICIA COMISIÓN PARA AMÉRICA LATINA, Inciden-cia de la Piedad Popular en el proceso de Evangelizaciónde America Latina. Actas de la Reunión Plenaria, Vati-cano 5-8 de abril de 2011. Città del Vaticano, LibreriaEditrice Vaticana, 2011, 526 p., euro 18,00.

Sagrada Biblia. Versión oficial de la Conferencia Epi-scopal Española. Edición popular. Madrid, Bibliotecade Autores Cristianos, 2011, XIV-1603 p.

SANTO TOMÁS DE AQUINO, Suma Teológica. III: Tra-tado del hombre – Tratado del gobierno del mundo.Edición bilingüe. Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cri-stianos, 2011, XXIV-1184 p.

Hugo DE SAN VÍCTOR, Didascalicon de studio legendi(El afán por el estudio). Edición bilingüe preparada porCarmen MUÑOZ GAMERO y María Luisa ARRIBAS

HERNÁEZ. Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos –Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 2011,X-130*-331 p.

* * *

Gianfranco RAVASI, Um mês com Maria. 31 imagens bí-blicas. São Paulo (Brasil), Edições Loyola, 2011, 104p. Trad. in portoghese di Un mese con Maria. 31 im-magini bibliche, San Paolo 1993.

60

61

LIBRI

* * *

Archbishop ANASTASIOS (YANNOULATOS), Archbishopof Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, Facing the World.Orthodox Christian Essays on Global Concerns. Geneva(Switzerland), WCC (World Council of Churches)Publications, 2003, 208 p.

Antonio M. BATTRO – Stanislas DEHAENE – Wolf J.SINGER (ed.), Human Neuroplasticity and Education.The Proceedings of the Working Group, 27-28 Octo-ber 2010. Vatican City, Pontificia Academia Scien-tiarum (“Scripta Varia” 117), 2011, 260 p.

Juan José SANGUINETI – Ariberto ACERBI – José AngelLOMBO (eds.), Moral Behavior and Free Will. A Neuro-biological and Philosophical Approach. The STOQ Proj-ect Research Series, 13. Vatican City – Morolo (FR),Pontificium Consilium de Cultura – IF-Press, 2011,432 p., euro 28,00.

* * *

Bernhard KIRCHGESSNER (Hrsg.), Christliche Spiritua-lität und Mystik. Versuch einer Begriffsklärung. St. Ot-tilien, EOS Verlag, 2011, 206 p. Dem Wesentlichen Raum geben. Spiritualität, Liturgieund Kunst im Dienst der Verkündigung. Stuttgart, VerlagKatholisches Bibelwerk, 2011, 160 p.

Albert RAFFELT – Peter REIFENBERG, UniversalgenieBlaise Pascal. Eine Einführung in sein Denken.Würzburg, Echter Verlag, 2011, 184 p.

* * *

Gianfranco RAVASI, Czym jest człowiek? Uczucia i wi zyludzkie w Biblii. Kraków, Wydawnictwo Homo Dei,2011, 144 p., Trad. in polacco di Che cos’è l’uomo? Sen-timenti e legami umani nella Bibbia, San Paolo 2011.

* * *

Mike VALÉRIA, Mike (Mádl) János és kora, 1905-1981.A Magyar Kolping Mozgalom és további törekvések a sza-badság szolgálatában. (John Mádl Mike and his Times.The Hungarian Kolping Movement and ContinuedLabors in the Cause of Freedom). Budapest, METEM,2010, 710 p.

LITTERÆ AD EDITOREM MISSÆ

The Pontifical Council for Culture received sev-eral reactions on the International ConferenceAdult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man andCulture held in the Vatican City between Novem-ber 9th through 11th, 2011. Below we publish onlya very few of them.

Dear Sirs,I was most surprised when I noticed that among thepanellists at the Conference organised by Your Council,there were some scientists who in their past and presentscientific activity have defended the legitimacy of usingembryonic stem cells for research purposes. Could itnot give the impression that the Vatican is in some waylegitimatising the use of embryonic stem cells, andtherefore, the suppression of human embryos, for thesake of the research? Does it not stand in contradictionwith the Magisterium of the Church which has alwaysdefended the dignity of all human being, from its con-ception to the natural death?(P. S.)

Dear Sir,thank you very much for your letter and the questionsyou have raised. In regard to your concerns I wouldlike to answer briefly.1. The intention of the organisers was clearly expressedthrough the title of the conference: Adult Stem Cells:Science and the Future of Man and Culture. As you cansee already from this perspective, there is no referenceor any kind of even allusion to the promotion or legit-imatization of Embryonic Stem Cells Research. More-over, the organisers recognise and fully embrace theteaching of the Catholic Church concerning humandignity, inviolability of human life unmistakably ex-pressed in many Papal statements and specially articu-lated in the Instruction Dignitas Personae of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.2. However, if you look carefully at the vital missionof the Pontifical Council for Culture, you will see thata fundamental task of this Dicastery is to promote di-

alogue between the Church and contemporary cul-tures, highly influenced by science

and its different expressions.

The decision to invite to the conference also some rep-resentatives from the embryonic stem cells field has itsroots within this essential responsibility of the Pontif-ical Council for Culture without nonetheless any wilfulor hidden intention to promote or to embrace embry-onic stem cell researchers’ logic, motivations or practicein scientific activity. There is a firm will only to under-stand more deeply those elements through open dis-cussion based on scientific arguments rather thanemotional or ideological ones. We really believe thatinviting people to build bridges and promote dialoguemust be also testified by our own example of actingwithout prejudices and discriminations. Moreover, weactually believe that we should not feel afraid to discussthose issues with researchers who do not share our eth-ical values or moral choices. We should rather be ableto show that the truth defends herself.3. Of course, all these motivations do not mean thatthe Church or any of its institution try to legitimize,embrace or support embryonic stem cell theoreticalbasis, nor do they endorse scientific protocols that raisenot only ethical concerns but also scientific ones bothin terms of safety and effectiveness.

* * *

Thank you so much for allowing Dr. Hamel and me toattend the superb conference. It was absolutely outstan-ding and I hope you are getting positive feedback. BothRon and I said it was the best Vatican conference we everattended. I know you must be exhausted but it was sovaluable. Bill Golden also loved the conference.I am back in Rome next week for Archbishop Zimow-ski’s conference. Perhaps I will see you there. Blessingson you and your work.

Sr. Carol KEEHAN, D.C., President/CEOThe Catholic Health Association of the United States

* * *

Prima di tutto grazie infinite di avermi dato la possibi-lità di partecipare a questo interessantissimo convegno[…] Mi sono sentita davvero una privilegiata!È stato un meeting veramente completo che ha analiz-zato l’aspetto di evoluzione della ricerca e dell’applica-zione medico/clinica a livello internazionale ma anche62

63

LITTERÆ AD EDITOREM MISSÆ

i vari aspetti, anch’essi molto importanti, “umano” edell’etica che sono sempre trascurati nei convegni in-ternazionali nel campo delle cellule staminali e invece,a mio parere, molto utili come “guida” per persone chelavorano in questo campo.Ho iniziato a divulgare le informazioni e nel websitedel portale “Segreteria Medica” (di proprietà di un miocaro amico, il Dr. Lorenzo Salvadori Amadei) oggi èuscito un trafiletto sul vostro meeting e sulle parole delSanto Padre: Il Vaticano sostiene l’utilizzo delle cellulestaminali adulte http://www.segreteriamedica.it/Ho inoltre comunicato al Dr. Salvadori Amadei, cheorganizza convegni internazionali nel campo medico efa anche Comunicazione in senso più ampio, che comeha detto Reverendo Trafny nella sua ultima letturadell’11 novembre: “siete interessati a trovare collabora-tori a diversi livelli, nella strada della divulgazione e cer-care di unire le forze per costruire qualche cosa diveramente utile, unico e potente. Conoscenza, dialogoe dedizione per portare benefici all’umanità”.Inoltre, ho preparato due articoli nella Rivista Bios Dia-gnostica, edita dal Laboratorio Polispecialistico di RomaBios, e le invierò copia appena saranno stampati i rela-tivi numeri.

Maria Giuditta VALORANI, PhDCentre for Diabetes, The Blizard Institute

Queen Mary University of London

* * *

Our participation in the Vatican Adult Stem Cell Con-ference was a memorable experience and we wanted tothank you and Robin Smith for making it possible. Dr.Crawford and I were most appreciative of the Vatican’sinitiative to bring together scientists and other biotechCEOs at the conference, but were humbled by seeingthe results of a number of stem cell therapies on a fewpatient’s lives, right before our eyes. (…) Thank youfor all of your hard work.

Pamela LAYTON, CEOParcell Laboratories LLC

* * *

Por este conducto quisiera agradecer su gentil in-vitación al Congreso Adult Stem Cells: Science and theFuture of Man and Culture. The Frist International Va-tican Adult Stem Cell Conference, llevado a cabo los días9 al 11 de noviembre del 2011 en la Sala Nueva del Sí-nodo en Ciudad del Vaticano.Desde el punto de vista profesional y personal fue unagran oportunidad conocer la experiencia de los diferen-tes institutos dedicados a la investigación con las célulasestaminales, pero sobre todo constatar la coherencia desu misión en los diferentes ámbitos: el alto nivel del tra-bajo científico presentado y el interesante abordaje cul-tural, ético y humano que nos permitiera conocer lasimplicaciones de su uso.Me siento profundamente orgullosa y motivada poreste primer Congreso Internacional. Deseo vivamenteque este diálogo entre ciencia y fe, sea el primero entremuchos, y que a través de este tipo de eventos de di-vulgación, la especialización se convierta en cultura. Sibien el aspecto científico fue de alta calidad, no menosimportantes fueron los eventos culturales, espiritualesy sociales. Caracterizados todos ellos de belleza, sensi-bilidad, delicadeza y calidad.Agradezco nuevamente a Usted y a todo el equipo orga-nizativo, sus finas atenciones. Mis mejores deseos paraque STOQ continúe la promoción de estas actividadesdonde el fin que se busca, es el bien de la persona.

Dra. Zamira Verónika MONTIEL BOEHRINGER

* * *

I want to thank you for your gracious invitation toattend the adult stem cell conference. (…) The con-ference was excellent, both in organization and con-tent. I am most grateful to have been able toparticipate. Best wishes in your continued work inthis most important area.

Ron HAMEL, PhD, Sr. Director, EthicsThe Catholic Health Association of the United States