CONFERENCE PROGRAM 2014
Poverty and the Common Good:
Putting the ‘Preferential Option for the Poor’ at the Service of Human Dignity
Venue: Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, at the Casina Pio IV, Vatican City State
Thursday morning, 26 June 2014
Session 1: What factors create or diminish poverty, from a Christian anthropological perspective?
Moderator: Prof. Fabrizio Sabelli; University of Geneva
Module 1 – An analysis of the economic consequences implied by the Judaeo-Christian belief that man is made in the image and likeness of God
Speaker: Luca Volontè; Chairman, Dignitatis Humanae Institute
Module 2 – Putting Man back at the centre: why the person is still Essential
Speaker: On. Vittorio Prodi MEP
Module 3 – The connection between the profit motive and the reduction of poverty
Speaker: Prof. Olinga Ta’eed; Director Centre for Citizenship, Enterprise & Governance
Thursday afternoon, 26 June 2014
Session 2: The Church and the ‘preferential option for the poor’
Moderator: Leo van Doesburg; Director for European Affairs & Policy Advice
Module 1 – Why does the Church have a preferential option for the poor?
Speaker: Flaminia Giovanelli; Under-Secretary, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Module 2 – When the Church prays for the poor – what exactly are we praying for?
Speaker: On. Ana María Jiménez Ortiz MP; President, Family Commission, Puebla State Congress
Module 3 – The Church’s complex relationship with the idea of ‘wealth’
Speaker: Prof. Thomas K. Johnson, Ph.D.; Theological Commission, World Evangelical Alliance
Friday morning, 27 June 2014
Session 3: Various aspects of the contemporary Culture of Waste
Moderator: On. Carlo Casini MEP; President, Italian Movement for Life
Module 1 – Slavery in the modern world: a sin that cries to Heaven for vengeance
Speaker: H.E. Mons. Marcel Sánchez Sorondo; Chancellor, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Module 2 – The ‘thrown away’ consequences of godless materialism: the unborn, youth, the disabled, the sick, the elderly and the Catholic response of solidarity
Speaker: Prof. Avv. Guzmán Carriquiry; Secretary, Pontifical Commission on Latin America
Module 3 – Man as the means rather than the end: the marketing of Man as thing
Speaker: Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, World Congress of Families
Friday afternoon, 27 June 2014
Session 4: The Common Good: The ‘preferential option for the poor’ at the service of human dignity’
Moderator: Benjamin Harnwell; Founder, Dignitatis Humanae Institute
Module 1 – ‘Natural rights’, the rule of law and property rights – a Christian philosophical response
First Speaker: Susan Gore; President, Wyoming for Liberty
Second Speaker: Michael Severence, Operations Manager, Acton Institute (Rome Office)
Module 2 – Promoting the Common Good: how can all Christians work together to eliminate poverty?
Speaker: David Fieldsend; Director, Care for Europe
Module 3 – Should Christians impose limits on wealth creation?
Speaker: Steven K. Bannon; Chairman, Breitbart News Media,
