Pontifical academies to hold joint session on martyrs

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2003 / 22:00 pm

The Vatican Pontifical academies will hold their eighth joint public session on Thursday, November 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Vatican's New Synod Hall.

The joint session will be focused on the theme “The Martyrs and Monuments to their Memories, Living Stones in the Building of Europe.”

The Vatican has five Pontifical Academies, two of which have been created by Pope John Paul II. 

The oldest are the “Cultorum Martyrum” Academy, which promotes historical accuracy and devotion to the martyrs; the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which forms future Vatican diplomats and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, created by Pope Pious IX as a non-sectarian group of world scientists.

The two created by Pope John Paul are the Pontifical Academy for Life, aimed at defending the right to life with dignity from conception to natural death, and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, aimed at promoting the application of the social doctrine of the Church.

During this joint meeting there will be the awarding of the prize of the pontifical academies.