Washington symposium explores common morality in a global age

Published: 2008-04-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A quest for a common morality in the world's diverse cultures can begin with a mother's smile and her child's play, Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, Italy, said March 27 as The Catholic University of America opened a four-day international symposium, "A Common Morality for the Global Age." The Venice patriarch, a theology professor before he was made a bishop, delivered the keynote address for the symposium in Washington, which drew more than 200 participants. The subtitle for the event, "In Gratitude for What We Are Given," set a theme that resonated with scholars of Judaism, Islam and Eastern religions who were among the speakers. The gathering was the result of a request to Catholic University from Pope Benedict XVI in October 2004, before he became pope. It drew thinkers from several religious traditions and experts in philosophy, theology, ethics, politics and religion from several nations. In requesting the symposium the future pope -- then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- wrote: "The Catholic Church has become increasingly concerned by the contemporary difficulty in finding a common denominator among the moral principles held by all people, which are based on the constitution of the human person and which function as the fundamental criteria for law, affecting the rights and duties of all."

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .