Genetic engineerings confer to people a power on the transmission of life never possessed before. But people are divided on the question of how to use it for the well-being and spiritual progress of mankind. Catholic health personnel must meet two demands when discussing practical questions as the grafting of skin, tissues or organs, the donation, the use of staminals cells etc ...: their conception of human dignity which makes impossible for them to associate themselves with practices which consider human (...) living as simply a biological matter, and their obligation to be a factor of unity and reconciliation in a society at present profoundly divided on the meaning of life. Hence the necessity for them of evaluating the new techniques of care from the point of view of the social obligations and the distribution of ressources for the benefit of all from a moral point of view. It is therefore urgent for health personnel to participate in existing Ethical Committees or to support their creation. Catholic guilds of health personnel to-day have to prepare their members to take such responsability and to work for the recognition of this right. (shrink)

A just and lasting peace can be established only on the basis of social justice. The road to peace through social justice is endangered by the growing socio-economic phenomenon of globalization, dominated as it is by economic perspectives which encourage opposed interests and rivalries among nations. The present article considers the possibility of the adoption of common values and policies by governments and peoples belonging to different cultural traditions, by which economic interests and relations might be subordinated to these values (...) held in common. The article recognizes the impossibility of reconciling some intellectual doctrines, but it emphasizes that agreements among nations could be arrived at which would permit them to accomplish certain practical objectives, among them, meeting the basic needs of the world's poorest people and nations. (shrink)

L'unité des composantes variées d'une culture donnée vient traditionnellement d'une adhésion des peuples concernés à une interprétation identique de l'existence, le plus souvent religieuse. D'òu l'adage «une religion, une foi» qui a prévalu un peu partout. Mais les sociétés démocratiques demandent aujourd'hui que la co-existence des peuples de différents credo soit possible sur un même territoire et sur un pieds d'égalité. L'article recherche à quelles conditions un tel projet est réalisable et quelles conséquences présentent ce défi pour les religions monothéistes.

La constitution Gaudium et Spes demeure un document de référence quarante ans après son adoption par le concile Vatican II. Son actualité vient de ce qu'aux prises avec l'athéisme contemporain qui répudie toute idée de transcendance, elle montre qu'il est possible d'affronter les problèmes actuels, notamment ceux de la paix et de la guerre, en liant leur solution à une interprétation religieuse de l'existence.

La sécularisation tend à effacer dans les esprits la dimension religieuse de l'existence en en offrant une interprétation totale rendant actuellement inutile la présence active de l'Église dans la société. L'actualité du christianisme vient de ce qu'il est à la fois historique et spirituel; il rend intelligible à chacun le rôle de l'homme dans l'histoire cosmique et humaine dans laquelle il se trouve.

The fact that a society treats equally the different social movements and the opinions which they propound, constitutes the soul of pluralism. Pluralism is characteristic of the Western contemporary world and marks a break from previous societies, notably from those of the Middle Ages. It is certain that pluralism made it possible to overcome the religious, and later the philosophical divisions which have divided Europe since the Renaissance. But it also led to the diffusion of religious indifferentism and to secularisation. (...) The author asks what future is in store for pluralism. For him, it is a question of a method which, supposing certain conditions, makes it possible to establish contact between different social systems; international institutions and the universal religions, Catholicism in particular, have a special responsibility in this matter. (shrink)

The Wars of the Falkland and the Gulf were the two conflicts of classical type John-Paul II was confronted with. On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his Pontificate, this article deals with various initiatives he has taken at this juncture to see how much they fit in with the traditional teaching of the Church on the just War. The use he made of this theory has allowed him to make stricter the conditions for a legitimate use of force, (...) to appeal to all moral forces to cooperate in building an effective solidarity among peoples and to develop a theology of Peace. (shrink)