Vatican City, Nov 20, 2006 / 22:00 pm
In a message to Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, for the closing of the international conference “The University and the Social Teaching of the Church,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, said the Church’s social teaching enriches research and formation at Catholic universities.
In his message the cardinal explained that the Church’s social teaching, "by its very structure tends toward interdisciplinary dialogue," and draws on the work of theology and philosophy, combining them with the best insights of the social sciences.
“The issues addressed during this conference are of great prominence and relevance, because they are intended to give form and substance to the dialogue between the gospel and culture. As is well known, one of the outstanding characteristics of today’s culture, above all at the academic level, is advanced research and specialization,” he said. That specialization, the cardinal continued, carries "the risk of fragmentation," with each branch of the social sciences pursuing its own particular studies.
The Magisterium of the Church continuously stresses that “man is capable of attaining a unified and organic vision of knowledge,” Cardinal Bertone noted. “The Church’s social teaching is also tasked with this duty,” he said.