Coinciding with the European Researchers’ Night, on September 27, the diocese of Teramo-Atri together with the University of Teramo proposes a series of events. At 6:00 pm Monsignor Lorenzo Leuzzi, Bishop of Teramo-Atri, presides over the Holy Mass of researchers, at the parish of S. Gabriele dell’Addolorata (Colleparco). At 8 pm the presentation of the proceedings of the second Meeting follows “Science for Peace” with greetings from Professor Dino Mastrocola, Rector of the University of Teramo, and Monsignor Leuzzi, followed by the speech of Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, Vice Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences. At 9:00 pm the Night of Researchers will continue.
From 26th to 28th September at the A. Saliceti university campus, the VII International Forum of Gran Sasso and the VI Conference of the Euro-African Partnership, on the theme “Intellectual charity for the development of peoples”. In presenting the initiatives, Monsignor Leuzzi explained that “in continuity with last year’s Forum, the chosen theme proposes to the academic and scientific communities to open new horizons not only of collaboration, but of inserting their research activities in the contemporary context. The perspective of intellectual charity questions first of all the vocation and mission of the researcher and urges the overcoming of a purely intra-academic purpose to open it to the new expectations of the changing era”.
Monsignor Leuzzi, how can intellectual charity be defined and how is it connected to the development of peoples?
“Intellectual charity is one of the three forms of charity, together with Samaritan and political charity. Perhaps the least known, which is missed, especially in the historical moment we are living. Pope Francis in the message sent last year to the participants in the meeting “Science for Peace” had relaunched the proposal of Blessed Rosmini: “being men and women of science is a vocation and, at the same time, a specific form of charity: intellectual charity”. It is the response to the invitation of Pope Paul VI who, in the Encyclical People’s progressor stated that “The world suffers from the lack of thought”. Intellectual charity is the privileged and irreplaceable way to promote the development of peoples. It is necessary to reconnect the link between intellectual charity and social animation to start paths of growth and development for all».
Is international cooperation as it exists today efficient and effective in promoting peace and development or does it require structural changes?
“Without intellectual charity, true international cooperation cannot develop and progress. In the epochal change we are experiencing, the international dimension does not only have a political function, but is an integral part of the knowledge of historical reality that, unlike the era of change, can only be understood and served in a global perspective. It is necessary and urgent to develop university cooperation so that it not only promotes the exchange of research projects, but also the sharing of socio-cultural paths, allowing for a deep understanding of the true dynamics of the path of peoples, avoiding any form of marginalization and ideological exploitation. Academic and research institutions are called to play a priority and irreplaceable role in promoting the cultural development of peoples, without which it will not be possible to start paths of peace and structural renewal”.
What does the Catholic Church have to say and propose to those involved in scientific and technological research?
«First of all, we are called to accompany all those who are involved in scientific research. It is a vocation and a mission. In the changing era, knowledge is the privileged way to start paths of hope. Pope Francis has repeatedly recalled the need to reaffirm the primacy of reality over ideas. Ecclesial communities must be places where formative paths are developed that are capable of arousing the desire to know. In the Church, intellectual charity must be shared by all the baptized, inviting them not to be afraid to seek and understand. The Risen One accompanies them and helps them not to be afraid in the face of the difficulties of knowing: it is the patience of those who seek in order to serve. In the changing era, science and technology risk being exploited by anti-realistic perspectives that downsize, to the point of annulling it, the historical subjectivity of man. Together with Samaritan and political charity, intellectual charity is not reserved for researchers, but must become a lifestyle that allows all the men and women of our time to be builders and not simple spectators. It is urgent to renew a new relationship between evangelization and scientific research: together it will be possible to open new horizons of development for all. The point of convergence and collaboration, despite the distinction and autonomy, is reality: the Church is a historical reality and not a religious or social association, as Pope Francis often reminds us».