An international seminar will examine how ethics and politics, economy and law, international organisations, non-governmental groups and religions can work together for disarmament, development, and peace.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Ethics and politics, economy and law, international organisations, non-governmental groups and religions, in synergy for the realisation of "hoilistic disarmament", not only of weapons, but also and even before this, as affirmed by John XXII in "Pacem in Terris," in the heart of man. This is the central concern of the international study seminar that the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace will hold at the Vatican tomorrow, April 11, and the following day, with the participation of scholars and experts at the international level, on the theme: "Disarmament, development, and peace: perspectives for holistic disarmament."

The first session of the meeting, tomorrow, will be dedicated to an ethical and spiritual reflection on disarmament and on the conditions for a geopolitics of development and peace, with addresses - among others - by Jesuit Fr Sergio Bastianel of the Pontifical Gregorian University and by Guy Feuer of the Sorbonne. The second session will discuss certain economic and legal questions, like the international arms trade, the overlapping of  the civilian and military economy, and the relationship between disarmament and human rights: these will be the topics of Fabrizio Battistelli of the international research institute "Archivio Disarmo", Davina Miller of the University of Bradford, and Raymond Ranjeva of the International Court of Justice.

The third and final session on Saturday will emphasise the role of the various subjects called to work together for "holistic disarmament", meaning government and non-governmental bodies, international organisations, and, not least, the religions, with addresses by Jorge Urbina of the United Nations, Cornelio Sommaruga of the International Center for Humanitarian Demining, and Cardinal Keith O'Brien, archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. The work will be introduced and concluded by the president of the pontifical council, Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino.

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