Tuesday, December 12, 2006: 5pm- 7:30pm, Centro Matteo Ricci

The Acton Institute is celebrating the 15 ^th Anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s groundbreaking social encyclical, Centesimus Annus , with a nine-part lecture series featuring many dynamic speakers from a broad range of disciplines. Seeking to further research and discussion of Catholic social teaching, each conference uniquely promotes an ethical analysis of the global market economy from various aspects.

The sixth conference in the series, titled Centesimus Annus and Deus Caritas Est: Christian Charity in the Free Market , will examine the relationship between these two significant encyclicals.

Too often modern politics forgets the primary place of the person within the state. Both Centesimus Annus and Deus Caritas Est emphasize the fact that the human person essentially belongs at the center of every political and economic structure. As conference speaker Professor Jean-Yves Naudet notes, the two encyclicals emphasize the place of reason with regards to man's approach to the world, and especially when it comes to understanding the origins and limits of the state and its role in social life.

Mr. George Weigel, biographer of Pope John Paul II, will deliver the keynote lecture on Centesimus Annus and Deus Caritas Est . Offering remarks on this topic will be Professor Jean-Yves Naudet, professor of economics at the Université d’Aix-Marseille III in France, and H.I.R.H. Otto von Habsburg, the son of the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, Blessed Charles I and proponent of a unified Europe. Rev. Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, will present introductory remarks.

The conference will take place in Rome from 5:00 pm- 7:30 pm at the Centro Matteo Ricci, Piazza della Pilotta, 4. There will be a reception to follow the lectures at the University. For more information, please contact the Acton Institute’s Rome office: tel: +39.06.688.92500, fax +39.06.682.14003, e-mail istitutoacton@acton.org .