Plenary Assembly
The Via Pulchritudinis, Pathway for Evangelisation and Dialogue

Rome, Palazzo S. Calisto, 27-28 March 2006

Monday 27 March 2006

09:00 Morning Prayer.

09:15 Welcoming and opening session: Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

09:45 Report of activities: Most Rev Bernard Ardura, Secretary.

10:15 Presentation of the Instrumentum Laboris: Rev. Mgr. Pasquale Iacobone, Rev. Fr Laurent Mazas.

10:45 Coffee Break.

11:15 1st session: The Foundations: A Theological Aesthetic.

- The Via Pulchritudinis Theological Foundations for a Pastoral Approach to Beauty, Archbishop Bruno Forte of  Chieti-Vasto.

12:00 Discussion.

13:00 Lunch.

15:00 2nd session: The Challenges of Secularisation and Religious Indifference.

- Beauty Menaced by Materialism and Consumerism, Rev. Fr. Marko Rupnik, S.I., Director of the "Ezio Aletti" Study and Research Centre, Rome

- Beauty and Secular Ideologies, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid.

- The Challenge of Passing from Atheist Materialism to Liberal Materialism, Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

15:30 Discussion.

16:00 Coffee Break.

16:30 3rd session: The Mirage of Beauty: New Religiosity and Emerging Spiritualities.

- Deceived Christians, the Temptation to Join Sects or Return to Traditional Religions, Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam.

- The Sects: Mirage of a Sensitive Beauty which Heals, Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Archbishop of Guatemala.

- The Fascination of New Age and the Sects, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez Archbishop of Guadalajara.

17:00 Discussion.

18:00 Vespers.

Tuesday 28 march 2006

09:00 Morning Prayer.

09:15 4th session: Contemplating the Most Beautiful in the Beautiful Things.

- Creation and its Beauty in Human and Christian Formation, Bishop William Friend of Shreveport.

- The Beauty of Creation in Formation of Youth and Cathecumens, Archbishop Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana'a Nzeki of Nairobi.

- Renewing the Teaching of Philosophy of Nature and the Theology of Creation in Dialogue with the Sciences, Archbishop Józef Mirosłav Życiński of Lublin.

09:45 Discussion.

10:45 Coffee Break.

11:15 5th session: Educating for Beauty and the Church's Artistic Patrimony.

- The Church's Artistic Patrimony, Means of Evangelisation, Catechesis and Dialogue, Bishop Mauro Piacenza, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

- Artistic Creation and Inculturation of the Faith, Archbishop Anselme Titianma Sanon, Archbishop of Bobo-Dioulasso.

- The Via Pulchritudinis and Formation in Seminaries and Catholic Cultural Centres, Bishop Joseph Vu Duy Thong, Auxiliary of Thành-Phô Hô Chí Minh.

11:45 Discussion.

13:00 Lunch.

15:00 6th session: The Mysterious Beauty of God Shining in the Liturgy

- The Liturgy, Icon of the Holiness of God, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč.

- Giving back to the Liturgy its Dignity and Authentic Beauty, Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.

- Helping Believers Rediscover the Meaning and Beauty of the Celebrated Liturgy, Bishop Fabio Duque Jaramillo of Armenia.

15:30 Discussion.

16:00 Coffee Break.

16:30 7th session: The Beauty of the Christian Life: Holiness.

- The Beauty of the Life of the Saints, Pathway of Dialogue, Cardinal Ivan Dias, Archbishop of Bombay.

- The Saving Beauty of Christ in an Indifferent World, Bishop Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick.

- Arousing the Interest of Young People to the Beauty of the Christian Life, Walking Towards the World Youth Days in Sydney 2007, Bishop Mark Benedict Coleridge, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne.

17:00 Discussion.

17:30 Towards the Plenary of 2008. Themes and Proposals.

Conclusions: Cardinal Paul Poupard.

Audience with His Holiness requested.