Update on the
'Courtyard of the Gentiles'
Translated from the Italian service of
03 FEB 2011 (RV) - The Sorbonne, UNESCO headquarters, the Academie Francaise and the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral will be the places in Paris where, in March, the Vatican's 'Court of the Gentiles' will be inaugurated - a Vatican agency to promote encounters and exchanges among believers and non-believers.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, which is in charge of this initiative, said that many personalities from the French world of culture will speak at the inaugural events. along with Benedict XVI himself, who will be 'present' by videoconference.
He says that the interest was surprising from the secular world in the initiative, born from a suggestion made by the Holy Father in his 2009 Christmas address to the Roman Curia.
"We are looking forward to a 'prelude' in Bologna on February 12, and there are plans for similar encounters next autumn in Stockholm and in Tirana (Albania)".
Ravasi explained that "We are not aiming for an academic dialog to find a common denominator. We wish to explore common radical questions for all men such as good and evil, life and the afterlife, pain and suffering, and also, the value of relIgion and theology".
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/03/2011 18:40]