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13 - 12.10.2012
SOMMARIO
- UDIENZE E PRANZO
CON IL SANTO PADRE
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OTTAVA CONGREGAZIONE GENERALE (VENERDÌ, 12 OTTOBRE 2012-
POMERIDIANO)
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COMPOSIZIONE DELLA COMMISSIONE PER IL MESSAGGIO
- AVVISI
UDIENZE
E PRANZO CON IL SANTO PADRE
Questa mattina il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha ricevuto in udienza
privata Sua Santità BARTOLOMEO I, Arcivescovo di Costantinopoli,
Patriarca Ecumenico (TURCHIA), con il seguito.
Successivamente ha ricevuto, nella Sala Clementina, i Vescovi che
hanno partecipato al Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano II assieme ai
Patriarchi e agli Arcivescovi delle Chiese orientali cattoliche e i
Presidenti di Conferenza Episcopale che ieri hanno concelebrato in
Piazza San Pietro in occasione dell’Apertura dell’Anno della Fede,
nel 50° anniversario dell’inizio dei lavori conciliari.
Successivamente, nell’Aula Paolo VI, il Santo Padre ha offerto un
pranzo ai Padri Sinodali e agli altri partecipanti alla XIII
Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi e ai presuli
precedentemente ricevuti in udienza.
Al pranzo hanno partecipato il Patriarca Ecumenico e Sua Grazia
Rowan Douglas WILLIAMS, Arcivescovo di Canterbury, Primate di tutta
l'Inghilterra e della Comunione Anglicana (GRAN BRETAGNA).
A conclusione del pranzo il Santo Padre ha rivolto ai convenuti le
seguenti parole:
Santità,
Your Grace,
cari Fratelli,
inizialmente vorrei annunciare un po’ di grazia, cioè, stasera
cominciamo non alle quattro e mezza - mi sembra disumano -, ma alle
sei meno un quarto.
È una bella tradizione creata dal Beato Papa Giovanni Paolo II di
coronare il Sinodo con un pranzo comune. Per me è una grande gioia
che alla mia destra ci sia Sua Santità il Patriarca Bartolomeo,
Patriarca Ecumenico di Costantinopoli, e, dall’altra parte,
l’Archbishop Rowan Williams from the Anglican Communion.
Per me questa comunione è un segno che siamo in cammino verso
l’unità e che nel cuore andiamo avanti. Il Signore ci aiuterà ad
andare avanti anche esteriormente. Questa gioia, mi sembra, ci dia
forza anche nel mandato dell’evangelizzazione. Synodos vuol dire
“cammino comune”, “essere in cammino comune”, e così la parola
synodos mi fa pensare al famoso cammino del Signore con i due
discepoli di Emmaus, che sono un po’ un’immagine del mondo agnostico
di oggi. Gesù, la loro speranza, era morto; il mondo vuoto; sembrava
che Dio realmente o non ci fosse o non si interessasse di noi. Con
questa disperazione nel cuore, e tuttavia con una piccola fiamma di
fede, vanno avanti. Il Signore cammina misteriosamente con loro e li
aiuta a capire meglio il mistero di Dio, la sua presenza nella
storia, il suo camminare silenziosamente con noi. Alla fine, nella
cena, quando già le parole del Signore e il loro ascolto avevano
acceso il cuore e illuminato la mente, lo riconoscono nella cena e
finalmente il cuore comincia a vedere. Così nel Sinodo siamo insieme
con i nostri contemporanei in cammino. Preghiamo il Signore perché
ci illumini, ci accenda il cuore affinché diventi veggente, ci
illumini la mente; e preghiamo affinché, nella cena, nella comunione
eucaristica, possiamo realmente essere aperti, vederlo e così
accendere anche il mondo e dare la sua luce a questo nostro mondo.
In questo senso, la cena - come il Signore ha preso spesso il pranzo
e la cena come simbolo del Regno di Dio - potrebbe essere anche per
noi un simbolo del cammino comune e un’occasione di pregare il
Signore perché ci accompagni, ci aiuti. In questo senso diciamo
adesso la preghiera del ringraziamento.
Buon riposo, ci vediamo nell’aula del Sinodo! Grazie!
[00193-01.04] [NNNNN] [Testo originale: italiano]
OTTAVA CONGREGAZIONE GENERALE (VENERDÌ, 12 OTTOBRE
2012- POMERIDIANO)
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INTERVENTO DELL’INVITATO SPECIALE, PROF. WERNER ARBER, PROFESSORE DI
MICROBIOLOGIA NEL BIOZENTRUM DELL'UNIVERSITÀ DI BASILEA, PRESIDENTE
DELLA PONTIFICIA ACCADEMIA DELLE SCIENZE (SVIZZERA)
Oggi, venerdì 12 ottobre 2012, alle ore 18:05, alla presenza del
Santo Padre, con la preghiera Pro felici Synodi exitu, ha avuto
inizio l’Ottava Congregazione Generale.
Presidente Delegato di turno S. Em. R. Card. Francisco ROBLES
ORTEGA, Arcivescovo di Guadalajara (MESSICO).
All’inizio della Congregazione il Segretario Generale ha comunicato
la composizione della Commissione per il Messaggio, che pubblichiamo
in questo Bollettino.
Quindi il Presidente Delegato ha dato la parola all’Invitato
Speciale, il Prof. Werner ARBER, Professore di Microbiologia nel
Biozentrum dell'Università di Basilea, Presidente della Pontificia
Accademia delle Scienze (SVIZZERA), che è intervenuto sul tema:
“Riflessione sulle relazioni tra le scienze e la fede religiosa”.
È seguito un tempo di interventi liberi.
A questa Congregazione Generale, che si è conclusa alle ore 18:55
con la preghiera dell'Angelus Domini, erano presenti 232 Padri.
INTERVENTO DELL’INVITATO SPECIALE, PROF. WERNER ARBER, PROFESSORE DI
MICROBIOLOGIA NEL BIOZENTRUM DELL'UNIVERSITÀ DI BASILEA, PRESIDENTE
DELLA PONTIFICIA ACCADEMIA DELLE SCIENZE (SVIZZERA)
L’Invitato Speciale è stato introdotto dal Presidente Delegato con
le seguenti parole:
Werner Arber es un microbiólogo y genetista suizo. En 1978, junto a
los científicos Hamilton Smith y Daniel Nathans, compartió el Premio
Nobel de Fisiología o Medicina por el descubrimiento de las
endonucleasas de restricción. El concepto de virus transductores
híbridos sirvió más tarde como modelo para los vectores de clonación
en la tecnología del ADN recombinante.
Entre sus muchos premios, galardones y academias, Werner Arber es
miembro del Comité Científico para el Diálogo sobre Conocimiento
Mundial; Miembro de la Academia de Ciencias para el Mundo en
Desarrollo (TWAS sus siglas en inglés) (1997) y Presidente del
Consejo Internacional de Uniones Científicas (CIUS) (1996-1999).
Desde 1981 es miembro de la Pontificia Academia de las Ciencias. En
enero de 2011, el Santo Padre, Papa Benedicto XVI, lo nombró
Presidente de la Pontificia Academia de las Ciencias, siendo el
primer Protestante en ejercer este cargo.
Y ahora ante Ustedes, el Profesor Werner Arber.
[00179-04.06] [NNNNN] [Texto original: inglés]
Quindi l’Invitato Speciale ha pronunciato il suo intervento:
Introduction
Curiosity is a basic property of the human mind. On the one hand, it
is the driving force for scientific investigations seeking for the
identification of natural laws. On the other hand, curiosity is also
at the basis of the interest of every human being to know the
fundamental laws of nature as an essential contribution to his
search for meaning and truth. Whereas the sciences by far cannot
find relevant answers to all the raised questions, especially the
ones which transcend the natural sphere, various beliefs (including
the ones that have their source in religion) also have an important
place in answering the question about meaning. They constitute
essential parts of orientational knowledge that serves as a guiding
base for human activities. In this context we raise here the
question of mutual relations and compatibilities between scientific
knowledge and essential contents of faith.
Context and impact of orientational knowledge
Orientational knowledge is built up and updated in the human mind
during our entire life span. It contains elements already acquired
during the embryonic development and in the early childhood. It
becomes then enriched by education and by personal search for truth.
Established scientific knowledge is thereby placed side by side with
various kinds of beliefs, including religious faith. By the way, we
can consider agnostic people also to have a specific belief, namely
in the non-existence of God. In many of our daily activities and
particularly for important decisions to be made, we are guided
consciously, or often also subconsciously, by our orientational
knowledge. We can consider the orientational knowledge as a
socializing element in our life. It indeed contributes to render our
activities compatible with our living in communities and with a
sustainable use of our habitats and of the available resources.
Cosmic evolution and biologic evolution as facts that reveal
important laws of nature.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences repeatedly deals with the
steadily increasing scientific insights into both: the evolution of
the Universe and the evolution of life. This is widely based on
observing the ongoing evolution. At least some of the thereby
obtained notions can allow us to also extrapolate to the
evolutionary processes at earlier times. But so far, the sciences
still have no precise notions on either the roots of cosmic
evolution (e.g. how did the fundamental particles, the building
elements of matter, come about?) nor on the roots of life (how did
all the elements required for life activities come together?). In
other words, we do not have solid scientific evidence for a
so-called creation ex nihilo as yet, which remains to be dealt with
by philosophy. On the other hand, the ongoing processes of evolution
of the Universe and of life are now solidly established scientific
facts that serve as essential elements of permanent creation.
In recent centuries and increasingly in recent decades, thanks to
highly efficient research strategies, scientific investigations have
revealed that our Universe is of a tremendously large size and
contains, besides a very large number of solar systems, also still
mysterious, so-called dark matter and dark energy. And this entire
complex, in which our planet Earth is just a minute component, is
known to be in a slowly progressing, steady evolution. On our
planet, physical evolution in relatively small steps, such as land
glides, can be observed by every attentive inhabitant.
At this time, we assume that life may also exist on some
extraterrestrial planets, but we are still waiting for scientific
evidence for this assumption. On the other hand, the life sciences
have acquired ample solid knowledge on the complexity of life
processes, both with respect to the activities in individual
organisms and to the ongoing biological evolution at the level of
populations.
Spontaneously occurring genetic variation as the driving force of
biological evolution.
Since roughly 60 years we know that life activities are dependent on
genetic information that is encoded on very long filaments of the
nucleic acid DNA. The specific linear sequences of only four
different building blocs (nucleotides) encode for all the life
activities and for the control of their expression at the required
times and sites within the organisms. If we compare the sequences of
nucleotides with the sequences of letters in our scripts, the
genetic information of a single-cellular bacterium corresponds to
the content of a book. For example, the widely studied E. coli
bacterium compares with the information content of the Bible. In
contrast, multicellular plants and animals have genetic information
corresponding to an encyclopedia of often several 100 up to 1000
volumes of the size of the Bible. The human genome corresponds to
about 700 such volumes.
The genetic information becomes inherited from generation to
generation.
Only occasionally in this process an alteration with regard to the
parental nucleotide sequences occurs. Some of these changes cause an
alteration of a phenotypic trait of the concerned organism. Such
alterations are known to more often negatively affect life
activities than to provide a functional advantage to the concerned
organism. In addition, a considerable part of spontaneously
occurring sequence alterations have no immediate effect on life
functions.
According to the theory of biological evolution based on Charles
Darwin's postulate of natural selection acting on phenotypic
variants, the spontaneous generation of genetic variants is the
driving force of biological evolution. In the course of scíentific
research in the past few decades, it became clear that a multitude
of different specific mechanisms can contribute to the generation of
novel genetic variants. These so far known molecular mechanisms can
be assigned to contribute to one and in some cases to two general
mutagenic strategies found in the living world. One of these natural
strategies of genetic variation implies a local nucleotide sequence
change, such as a nucleotide substitution, the deletion of one or a
few adjacent nucleotides, the insertion of one or a few additional
nucleotides, or finally a scrambling of a few adjacent nucleotides.
This can happen upon the replication of DNA molecules or by the
impact of a mutagenic agent. A second natural strategy of genetic
variation brings about a segment-wise rearrangement of the available
genetic information of an organism. This can result in a
duplication, in a translocation or in a deletion of a usually small
part of the genetic information of the concerned organism. The third
natural strategy of genetic variation consists in the acquisition of
a relatively small segment of genetic information from another kind
of organism by socalled horizontal gene transfer.
It is the natural selection that will sort out and maintain those
rare variants that provide to the organism a functional advantage.
We can further note that each of the three natural strategies of
genetic variation contributes with a different quality to biological
evolution. Local DNA sequence changes can contribute to a step-wise
improvement of a particular function. DNA rearrangements of segments
of available genetic information can bring about novel fusions of
functional domains or the fusion of an existing gene with an
alternative element for the control of gene expression. Finally, the
strategy of DNA acquisition is seen as a sharing in the functional
success of another kind of living organism.
The natural potency to evolve and its impact on biodiversity
In the natural generation of genetic variants both particular gene
products and some non-genetic elements are generally involved. The
products of so-called evolution genes act thereby as variation
generators and/or as modulators of the rates of genetic variation.
Non-genetic elements can be effects of chemical or physical
mutagens, random encounter and structural flexibilities such as
isomeric forms of biological molecules. One can assume that in the
long-term past evolution, the evolution genes had become fine-tuned
to exert their evolutionary functions consisting in the occasional
generation of novel genetic variants. These processes are largely
contingent with regard to the site of the DNA sequence alteration
and also with regard of the time of the mutagenesis. The rates of
any kind of genetic variation are naturally kept quite low. This
ensures a comfortable stability to the genetic information of the
living organisms, a precondition for a sustainable life in
populations. In conclusion, the living world takes actively care of
biological evolution thanks to its natural potency to undergo
biological evolution. In other words, biological evolution is a
steadily ongoing natural process of permanent, stepwise creativity.
We are aware that the natural potency to evolve is the source of
biodiversity and that the ongoing biological evolution also
guarantees a steady, although very slowly progressing, replenishment
of biodiversity. However, in view of the largely contingent
generation of genetic variants, one cannot expect that lost
biodiversity can become precisely reconstituted in the future
evolutionary progress. Replenished biodiversity can rather be
expected to represent mainly novel kinds of mutant organisms.
Cultural values of scientific knowledge
Scientific insights into the laws and constants of nature are
cultural values from the following two points of view: On the one
hand, established scientific knowledge enriches our worldview and
thus it contributes to our orientational knowledge. On the other
hand, scientific knowledge can also open novel approaches to
technological applications, innovations to the benefit of our lives
as well as of our environment. Since such innovations will often
contribute to the shaping of the future, we should ideally postulate
that any respective decision should depend on a carefully exerted
technology assessment and, on the other hand, that the civil society
and the Church are ready to take co-responsibility together with the
scientists and with economy carrying out a novel shaping of the
future with prospective benefits for mankind and for its
environment. Such measures can contribute to ensure sustainability
of the process and thus of the long-term future development on our
planet.
The role of rules of conduct for Humanity
We are aware that our societal life requires some binding rules of
conduct which should become integral part of our orientational
knowledge. In modem societies, politically established legislation
ensures that recommended rules of conduct are widely followed.
Acceptance of such rules can be facilitated if their principles are
also anchored in a religious faith. In the Christian society,
important rules of conduct were propagated by Jesus Christ
throughout his life and they have ever since that time been widely
followed by Christians. Nevertheless, it is an important task of
today's societies to update the established set of rules in paying
particular attention to our acquired scientific knowledge. In this
context, I assume that íf Jesus Christ would live among us today, he
would be in favor of the application of solid scientific knowledge
for the long-term benefit of humans and of their natural
environment, as long as such applications leading to a shaping of
the future could ensure that the relevant laws of nature are fully
respected.
Let us briefly illustrate this postulate by a particular example:
Thanks to the recent advances in genomics, proteomics and
metabolomics, it has become possible to direct biological evolution
in order to better fulfill our needs for a healthy nutrition as a
contribution to medically relevant improvements. The Pontifical
Academy of Sciences devoted a study week in May 2009 to this issue
with particular emphasis given to transgenic plants for food
security in the context of development. Our Academy concluded that
recently established methods of preparing transgenic organisms
follow natural laws of biological evolution and bear no risks
anchored in the methodology of genetic engineering. Indeed, these
methods involve local sequence changes, a rearrangement of segments
of genetic information that is available in the concerned organism,
and/or the horizontal transfer of a relatively small segment of
genetic information from one organism into another kind of organism.
As we have already outlined above, these are the three natural
strategies for the spontaneous generation of genetic variants in
biological evolution. The beneficial prospects for improving widely
used nutritional crops can be expected to alleviate the still
existing malnutrition and hunger in the human population of the
developing world.
The compatibility of scientific knowledge and religious faith.
For long periods of time, curious human beings acquired scientific
knowledge mainly by observing with their senses and aided by mental
reflections including logical reasoning. The chapter of the Genesis
in the Old Testament represents to me a testimony for an early
scientific worldview already existing several thousand years ago.
This chapter also reflects a wide consistency between religious
faith and available scientific knowledge. It proposes a logical
sequence of events in which creation of our planet Earth may have
been followed by the establishment of conditions for life. Plants
were then introduced and these provided in a next step food for
animals before human beings were finally introduced. Leaving aside
the question of Revelation, this is clearly a logical narration of
the possible evolutionary origin of things by imagined events
leading to the nature that the ancient populations observed. From
the genealogy outlined in the Old Testament, I can also conclude
that its authors were aware of phenotypical (i.e. genetic) variants.
The described persons have their own personal characteristics and
they are thus not genetically identical clones of Adam and Eve. In
these narrations, we can identify a good consistency between the
early available religious faith and scientific knowledge on
evolutionary developments. It is today our duty to maintain (and
where needed, to re-establish) this consistency on the basis of the
now available improved scientific knowledge.
According to my conviction, scientific knowledge and faith are and
should remain to be complementary elements in our orientational
knowledge.
Conclusions
With emphasis given to the evolution of life and of its
environmental habitats, we have outlined here how scientific
knowledge can influence, together with other elements of our
orientational knowledge, human activities including the application
of scientific knowledge for the benefit of the human well-being and
of an intact environment serving for a long-term sustainable
development of our planet Earth and its inhabitants. The here given
examples can be extended to any other feasible activities based on
available scientific knowledge that may serve us for a sustainable
cultural development. In this respect, the Pontifical Academy of
Sciences tries to fulfill its tasks to critically follow the
development of scientific investigations and the projects of
applications of acquired knowledge. It periodically issues its
publications, informing the scientific world, the Church hierarchy,
and all Christians and people of good will, both in book form and
digitally on its web site www.pas.va and it also makes relevant
recommendations in favor of a safe, responsible and sustainable
development.
[00131-02.05] [SP000] [Original text: English]
COMPOSIZIONE DELLA COMMISSIONE PER IL MESSAGGIO
Pubblichiamo di seguito la composizione della Commissione per il
Messaggio, con i nominativi del Presidente e Vice-Presidente di
nomina pontificia, i nominativi degli 8 eletti nella Sesta
Congregazione di ieri pomeriggio con l’aggiunta dei nominativi dei 2
Membri di nomina pontificia.
Presidente
- S. Em. R. Card. Giuseppe BETORI, Arcivescovo di Firenze (ITALIA)
Vice Presidente
- S. E. R. Mons. Luis Antonio G. TAGLE, Arcivescovo di Manila
(FILIPPINE)
Membri
- S. Em. R. Card. Polycarp PENGO, Arcivescovo di Dar-es-Salaam,
Presidente del Simposio delle Conferenze Episcopali di Africa e
Madagascar (S.C.E.A.M. - S.E.C.A.M.) (TANZANIA)
- S. Em. R. Card. Christoph SCHÖNBORN, O.P., Arcivescovo di Wien,
Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale (AUSTRIA)
- S. Em. R. Card. Gianfranco RAVASI, Presidente del Pontificio
Consiglio della Cultura (CITTÀ DEL VATICANO)
- S. B. Em. Card. George ALENCHERRY, Arcivescovo Maggiore di
Ernakulam-Angamaly dei Siro-Malabaresi, Capo del Sinodo della Chiesa
Siro-Malabarese (INDIA)
- S. Em. R. Card. Timothy Michael DOLAN, Arcivescovo di New York,
Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale (STATI UNITI D'AMERICA)
- S. E. R. Mons. André LÉONARD, Arcivescovo di Mechelen-Brussel,
Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale (BELGIO)
- S. E. R. Mons. John Atcherley DEW, Arcivescovo di Wellington,
Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale, Presidente della Federazione
delle Conferenze dei Vescovi Cattolici di Oceania (F.C.B.C.O.)
(NUOVA ZELANDA)
- S. E. R. Mons. Sérgio DA ROCHA, Arcivescovo di Brasília (BRASILE)
- S. E. R. Mons. Socrates B. VILLEGAS, Arcivescovo di
Lingayen-Dagupan (FILIPPINE)
Rev. P. Adolfo NICOLÁS PACHÓN, S.I., Preposito Generale della
Compagnia di Gesù (Gesuiti)
AVVISI
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ORARIO DI APERTURA DELLA SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE
ORARIO DI APERTURA DELLA SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE
Domani, sabato 13 ottobre 2012, la Sala Stampa della Santa Sede
resterà aperta dalle ore 09.00 alle ore 15.00
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