Le séminaire annuel de 2022

The 2022 Annual Seminar took place on 5-9 September in Lisbon, hosted by the Catholic University of Portugal (UCP), under the umbrella title « Integral Human Development ».

Integral Human Development (IHD) is a concept first coined by Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Populorum progressio signaling that the focus of development should be in “the development of each man and of the whole man” (n. 14). Pope Francis has renewed this intention for a focus on IHD by encouraging to seek ways that « may better meet the needs of the men and women whom they are called to serve ». In institutional terms, the creation of a Dicastery of Integral Human Development bringing together all the activity related to this theme is a strong affirmation of a renewed attention to the field.

In line with this focus on IHD, the 2022 annual seminar of the International PhD Program & Research Network Contemporary Humanism in cooperation with the Postdoc-Fellowship Program in Integral Human Development at UCP aimed at discussing issues concerning the three main areas of concern in IHD: Faith and Integral Development, Fringes of Humanity and Care of Creation.

The seminar allowed to enrich the research frameworks and insights around the multiple dimensions of integral human development by challenging society’s preconceptions of development, poverty and inequality and debating knowledge on concepts, notions and realities of the world we live in.

On the assumption that “authentic development is the development that makes every person ‘more human’ and seeks to promote the good of the whole person and of every person”, the seminar aimed at understanding what a New and Contemporary Humanism might mean and how it could help to transform 21^st century’s culture and society.

Keynote Speakers:

Andrew McKenzie-McHarg (Australian Catholic University): “Modes of Understanding the Margins”

Michael Bourgatte (Institut Catholique de Paris): “Video Empowerment in the Digital Age”

Chiara Pesaresi (Université Catholique de Lyon): “A Philosophical Perspective on Integral Human Development in the Light of Vulnerability”

João Duque (Universidade Católica Portuguesa): « Monist post-humanism or analogical new humanism? »

Alejandra Carrasco (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile): “Justice, Respect and Care »

A selection of the presented papers:

Tiago Abalroado_Value Creation in The Strategic Management of Church Social Institutions In Portugal

Rajat Denzil Acharya_Philosophy, Education, and Integral Human Development

Maxime Begyn_Absolute and otherness: a given space for human being to grow

Filippo Benedetti _The Islamic Revolution of 1979: the Last Revolution of the 20th Century

Pierangelo Bianco_The Word and the World for an Integral human development in George Lindbeck’s Postliberal Theology