Rethinking Anthropology - Toward a new humanism

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Paul Klee "Senecio", Paul Klee


Videomessage from Pope Francis [video] - texts: [Italian] [English] [French] [Spanish]

Plenary Assembly

Rethinking Anthropology - Toward a new humanism

November 2021

“And no one without Natural Philosophy can discern the value (and their value is very great) of the ancient maxims and precepts of the Wise Men, such as to ‘obey occasion,’ ‘follow God,’ ‘know thyself,’ and ‘moderation in all things’.

Cicero, De finibus, III.

The aim of the 2021 Plenary was to explore the wealth of humanism, which was created by the fusion of biblical and classical principles. It was studied under three aspects announced by Cicero in his recollection of ancient wisdom: time (parere tempori), identity (se noscere) and transcendence (Deum sequi), which were the guiding themes of the reflections of the plenary.

Part One. The classical roots of humanism

A comparison of the anthropological models of Greco-Latin culture and of the Bible, which in their intertwining of dialogue and opposition gave birth to classical humanism, the basis of Western culture.

  • Video input 1: Athens and Jerusalem. The anthropology of the classical and biblical worlds, Dialogue between Prof. Ivano Dionigi and Card. Gianfranco Ravasi [English] [Italian] [French] [Spanish]

Part Two. The challenges of humanism today

The themes of time (parere tempori), identity (se noscere) and transcendence (Deum sequi), were at the heart of three short presentations on the challenges facing contemporary cultures.

  • Video input 2: Parere tempori - Prof. Francesc Torralba (video)
  • Video input 3: Se noscere - Prof.ssa Alessandra Talamo (video)
  • Video input 4: Deum sequi - Prof. José Casanova (video)

The Plenary concluded with a general meeting on 23 November 2021 in 5 parts: [video]

  • a) Introduction: Mons. Polvani, Undersecretary   
  • b) Videomessage from Pope Francis [video] - texts: [Italian] [English] [French] [Spanish]
  • c) Reports from the working groups: Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary, Speaker's notes
  • d) General Discussion
  • e) Concluding Remarks from Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President

Working document [English] [Italian] [French] [Spanish]