Vatican City, May 2, 2007 / 08:30 am
In a message addressed to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which just completed its 13th plenary assembly in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI stressed that full justice can only come about in the world if human beings, “male and female”, are recognized for their true human dignity.
The Holy Father’s letter was addressed to Mary Ann Glendon, president of the Pontifical Academy, whose recent assembly carried the theme; "Charity and Justice in the Relations among Peoples and Nations."
In his message, the pope emphasized that “everything that the earth produces and all that man transforms and manufactures, all his knowledge and technology, is meant to serve the material and spiritual development and fulfillment of the human family and all its members."
Specifically, he pointed to "three specific challenges facing our world,” which, he said, “can only be met through a firm commitment to that greater justice which is inspired by charity.”