On February 19th, UNESCO Chair Director, Prof. Alberto Garcia, as a member of Honorary Committee of the Marianna Foundation, participated in the presentation of the XXI edition 2019 of the Carta Artistica Universale (Universal Artistic Paper).
What Marianna Foundation
is?
Pinuccia Pitti
Pinuccia Pitti, the founder, is a painter and poetess who is aware of the painful humanity and of the sacredness and beauty of every human being,. She felt the duty to create the Marianna Foundation to disseminate and promote respect for the fundamental rights of women and of man, using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as a reference point. Cultura dell’ amore dall’Europa a Tutti i Popoli della Terra: (Culture of Love from Europe to All the People of the Earth), which is the central program of the foundation. From this project comes “The Universal Artistic Paper”, an editorial tool that brings Human Rights to the attention of the world. Published each year, every edition deals with a different topic. To disseminate the idea of Human Rights, the “Carta Artistica Universale” uses a pictorial work, a poem by Pinuccia Pitti and a commentary by an authoritative personality, this year, Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director – General for Education, UNESCO, related to the topic of the year and is officially presented during a prestigious evening with important speakers. In the same context, the Foundation gives out different awards which include: The “Intercultura” prize awarded to two students of different nationalities for a paper on the theme of the year; The “A Life for Love” award to a person who has distinguished himself for dedication and humanity.
the XXI edition 2019 of the Carta Artistica Universale (Universal Artistic Paper)
Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director – General for Education, UNESCO, wrote the main massage of the Carta Artistica Universale emphasizing the importance of the UNESCO role in promoting “values of solidarity, social justice, global citizenship and environmental awareness” through art education. Moreover, she added that “advancing these values through the arts is a powerful way to build more inclusive and just societies and to strengthen peace.”
UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights is committed to raise awareness
of human rights through Global Art and the International Research Group &
International Network of Bioethics and Aesthetics that is part of the Bioethics
Art Group of Study. Through this project, the chair wants to study the relation
and interaction between bioethics, art, and the impact of art in human behavior;
evaluate the impact of the transformative power of arts in research and medical
ethics as well as in environmental ethics; and to bridge the gap between
academics involved working in bioethics and the art world by carrying research
activities and publications.
On February 25th and 26th, the Pontifical Academy for Life organized a workshop on Roboethics: Humans, Machines and Health. The goal of the Workshop was to provide updates on the characteristics of the technologies in the field of robotics. One of the primary goals was to shape and identify the questions rising in the field from the anthropological and ethical point of view through those who work on the ground. Another goal was to propose some ethical criteria and possibly some recommendations in order to reintroduce a global dimension of the theme.
At
the workshop, UNESCO Chair Director, Prof. Alberto Garcia had the chance to
meet Pope Francis. In their meeting, he presented the Chair and spoke about the
that the Chair has carried out through these years in disseminating principles
of Human Rights and Bioethics. Through a constantly working towards organizing
workshops, national and international conferences, UNESCO Chair in Bioethics
and Human Rights is committed to continuing the establishment of forums of
discussion on Multiculturalism and Interreligious dialogue, Neurobioethics, and
Human Rights.
From December 5 to 7, 2018, the World Congress of Bioethics was held
at St. John’s Medical Centre in Bangalore, India. The theme this year was “Health for All in an
Unequal World: Obligations of Global Bioethics.”
Several fellows and collaborators of the UNESCO Chair participated in this encounter of around 400 bioethicists all over the world. They presented a symposium on “Social Responsibility and Health according to Western and Hindu Traditions” based on the 4th International Bioethics, Multiculturalism and Religion workshop held in Mexico, 2014 on this topic.
UNESCO Chair fellow Fr. Joseph Tham chaired the session. The
symposium hoped to stimulate dialogue among the different presenters,
discussants and the audience through the moderation of the chair. This format
allowed greater engagement between the audience and experts in the fields of
religious ethics and human rights. At each
of the three presentations, the main presenter explained his or her paper,
followed by the response of the discussants and eventually fielding questions
from the audience. After the three presentations, the chair summarized the
findings and opened up the discussion to the audience for further clarifications
and debates.
Fr. Tham noticed that in the globalized reality,
religions could play an essential role in health promotion. Article 14 of the
UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights on Social Responsibility and
Health states that “The promotion of health and
social development for their people is a central purpose of governments that
all sectors of society share… the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard
of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being…” The symposium focused on how this article is
understood in the West, especially Christianity, and the East, represented by
the “Hindu” tradition. The contrast and dialogue between these two time-honored
traditions can shed light on the differences and convergence of theories,
methodologies, and actions regarding social responsibility and health. In the
West, this duty originated from the Good Samaritan question in the Gospel,
“Who is thy neighbor?” This idea of supererogation—to act beyond the
call of duty—is closest to the ideal of treating every stranger with equality
and universality in the current milieu of global ethics and human rights. “Hindu”
conceptions on social responsibility are based on the balance between the
demands of karma and dharma found in Bhagavad Gita. Karma proposes a somewhat resigned
acceptance on individual social status, condition, and fate. In order to achieve the dharma in the
social stages of life, individuals are inspired to serve and alleviate the
social needs of the less fortunate. Ultimately, these social responsibilities arise
from the spiritual discipline of self-perfection and virtuous living to attain
liberation or moksha. Some of the concerns raised in these two
traditions are 1) respective responsibilities of organized religion and state
in healthcare provision. 2) the relationship between health-salvation at the
physical and spiritual level. 3) the feasibility of egalitarian
distribution of resources. 4) the language of duty vs. rights.
Fr. Sameer Advani, Research Scholar of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics
and Human Rights and professor at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum
presented his paper on “Christianity and the Asiatic religious worldview in the
thought of Benedict XVI.”
As one of the most
recognized intellectuals in the West and as leader of the Catholic Church,
Joseph Ratzinger/ Pope Benedict XVI was instrumental in shaping the debate on a
wide array of public issues in the late 20th and early 21st
century. Key to his approach was the conviction that humankind discovers truth
through dialogue, and he was thus a staunch and tireless defender of the need
for secular society to talk with religious traditions and for religions to
converse among themselves. This paper introduces the symposium by examining
Ratzinger’s proposal, highlighting his notion of religion as the ‘cumulative
memory of mankind,’ its role in contributing to public debate, and the
particular importance that the Christian and Hindu worldviews play in this
process.
Colleen Gallagher, Chief of the Section of Integrated Ethics at
Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, spoke on the “Christian conception of
Social Responsibility in Health.” Christianity interprets the parable of the
Good Samaritan as Jesus’ command to see and care for the stranger in need as our
neighbors, even beyond the call of duty. These are works of supererogation that
overcome the Old Law of duty with the New Law of love. This understanding further
develops into a comprehensive understanding of justice, responsibility, and
rights to provide individual and community health needs as reflected in the
substantial Catholic healthcare provisions globally. It coincides with the
vision of Global health and social responsibility expressed in the UNESCO
Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights.
Dr. Vasantha Muthuswamy, President of FERCI and former Senior Deputy
Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, explained to us “Hinduism
and Social Responsibility.” Vedanta provides the code of conduct and spiritual
values which fully anticipate socio-economic problems. It prescribes Dharma, the moral duty of each, and Karma, the line of selfless action to be
undertaken without expecting any return. It provides the moral compass by
cultivating family and social values to fulfill the social responsibilities
towards the needy. Hindu ethics leads to self-realization or liberation from
the cycle of birth and death, moksha,
through service. The presentation will analyze the UNESCO Declaration through
the lens of Hindu tenets that eventually form the guiding principles of the
Indian Constitution of India which protects the fundamental rights of its
citizens.
The Symposium was very engaging for the 30 or so persons who attended,
and there are many interchanges regarding this fascinating intersection of
religion, human rights, and social responsibility.
Coordinadora de la Maestría Online en Español Facultad de Bioética martha.hernandez@anahuac.mx Tel.: 722 915 4617 Horario de atención: 9:00 a 17:00 hrs.
*Diploma
**The degrees issued by the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum accredit 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), which can be used within the European Higher Education Area. The ECTS are used for student mobility from one cycle to another. The other institutions do issue their own degrees.
