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PRESENTATION 1. Background and accomplishments of the Center2. Projects 3. Concrete objectives of the Center
1. Background and accomplishments of the Center For several years the Institute of moral theology of the University of Fribourg (Prof. R. BERTHOUZOZ O.P.) and the Jacques Maritain International Institute (Prof. R. SUGRANYES DE FRANCH and Prof. R. PAPINI) have been conducting a research project on the social teaching of the Episcopal conferences and the bishops from all the continents. These interventions were previously available in a fragmentary way and usually only very locally. They have great importance because of their concrete and historic approach employing Christian principles in ethical, economic, political and social matters. Moreover they manifest a particular attention to new and specific challenges throughout the world. The pontifical documents concerning social doctrine have been abundantly distributed and commented on, giving an orientation and inspiration to the reflection and commitment of the local churches. However, the majority of the declarations or statements written by local Bishops and Bishops conferences, although often being well developed and circumstanced, had remained unknown even to specialists. Some of their echoes had hardly reached beyond their own country and diocese. This research intended, furthermore, to offer a service of dialogue and mutual interpelation between the local churches confronted with common problems (like justice in international exchanges, economic structures and democratic transition, solitary promotion of fundamental human rights and economic rights, etc.). Finally, the specifically economic dimension of the social ethic has only recently been addressed properly by ecclesial doctrine. The social documents of the first half of this century focused more on condemning the harmful effects of economic systems on the life of men and women (which has been called the "social question") but they never went to the cause of these phenomena, to economic activity strictly speaking. The project has assembled in Fribourg all the documents emanating from the Episcopal conferences, their Justice and Peace Commissions and even individual bishops, concerning the problems that economic life poses to the Christian conscience. A directory was created for all these documents, which date back to 1891, when the encyclical "Rerum Novarum" of Leo XIII was published. Nearly 1,600 Episcopal documents from the entire world have thus been collected. For each one of them, a directory entry has been created indicating: the country, date, title, author (or authors), the contents with reference to economic key words and their historical character. 32 Episcopal conferences were officially represented on the occasion of the colloquium in Fribourg in April 1993, which was consecrated to the teaching of the bishops of the entire world on the topic of "Ethics, the Economy and Development". This event itself, as well as the favorable echo that met the publication of the result of our work in 1997, has shown the pertinence and interest stimulated by our research. This publication, the annotated catalogue of the documents, is entitled: "Economie et Développement, Rèpertoire des documents Èpiscopaux des cinq continents (1891-1991), R. Berthouzoz, O.P., R. Papini, C. J. Pinto de Oliviera, R. Sugranyes de Franch, Ed. Universitaires, Fribourg, Ed. du Cerf, Paris, 1997, XXXVI+808 pp. The catalogue, which also contains analytical and geographical indexes, will surely be useful to guide interested persons through the considerable mass of documents analyzed. With the collaboration of the International Jacques Maritain Institute a series of colloquia were organized in different parts of the world. They included experts and as much as possible the editors of the Episcopal documents, who presented an analysis of these documents from a theological, economic and sociological point of view. These meetings began in Fribourg in 1986 in relation to the pastoral letter of the Bishops of the United States "Economic Justice for All", and continued in Calgari (Italy) in 1987 on the documents of the industrialized countries, in Madrid in 1989 on those of Latin America, in Jakarta (Indonesia) in 1990 on those of Asia and in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) on those of the Bishops of Africa. A conclusion concerning the teaching of the Bishops was drafted during the two colloquia in: Fribourg (April 1993) and Rome (December 1995). The Acts of these different colloquia have already been published.
The documentary wealth thus far assembled should not be lost, nor should the relationships established in the course of reflection and multilateral dialogue be interrupted. This is why the Institute of Moral Theology and the Jacques Maritain Institute in cooperation of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Teaching of Christian Social Ethics (Fribourg, Prof. N. MICHEL) have decided to constitute an "International Center of Documentation and Research on Christian Social Teaching" (CIDRESOC). This proposed project springs out of the tradition of the University of Fribourg and corresponds to the place given therein to the social teaching of the church, in dialogue with other spiritual and humanistic traditions. 3. Concrete objectives of the Center of Documentation and Research are:
Partners Institute of Moral Theology; Jacques Maritain International Institute; Foundation for the Promotion of the Teaching of Christian Social Ethics
CIDRESOC:
Centre International de Documentation et de Recherche sur l'Enseignement Social Chrétien |
2. To update on a continual basis
the "Rèpertoire" (Directory) of documents published by the bishops on ethical
and economic problems;