The Pontifical Council for the Laity will begin its 24th plenary assembly Thursday, dedicating the three-day meeting to consider “Witnesses to Christ in the Political Community.”
A communiqué from the council noted how Benedict XVI has repeatedly affirmed a “pressing need” for a renewed commitment of Catholics in political life.
Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the dicastery, will inaugurate the event.
Three lectures are scheduled: Lorenzo Ornaghi, rector of the Sacred Heart Catholic University in Milan, Italy, will speak on “politics and democracy today: ‘status quaestionis'”; Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian bishops’ “Cultural Project,” will examine the topic of “Church and political community: certain vital points”; finally Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, will speak on “the responsibility of the lay faithful in political life.”
Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Catholic lay Community of Sant’Egidio, will give a report on great Christian personalities in the history of politics. And the undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Guzmán Carriquiry, will speak on methods for forming the lay faithful in politics.
Benedict XVI will receive the participants in audience on Friday.VATICAN CITY, MAY 18, 2010 (Zenit.org)