Population crisis is also a social crisis.Rome--The Pontifical Academy A Pontifical Academy is an academic honorary society established by or under the direction of the Holy See. Some were in existence well before they were accepted as "Pontifical. of the Social Sciences founded by the Pope in 1994 to advise the Holy See on aspects of social change, held its annual meeting in Rome from April 30 to May 3. Its focus this year was on "international solidarity" as manifested in the welfare state's provision of pensions and health care. This was the thrust of a paper presented by Hans Tietmeyer Dr. Hans Tietmeyer is a German/European economist and regarded as one of the foremost experts on international financial matters. He was president of Deutsche Bundesbank from 1993 until 1999 and remains one of the most important figures in finance of the European Union. , president of the German Bundesbank, who described the "financial bottleneck" in Western industrial countries. Great expectations have been created there in areas of state pensions and health care; these are now jeopardized by the double phenomenon of the declining birthrate birth·rate or birth rate n. The ratio of total live births to total population in a specified community or area over a specified period of time, often expressed as the number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year. and increasing life spans. Tietmeyer drew attention to the rise in the age quotient--the number of persons 65 and over--relative to the number of persons of working age (15-64 years). In Germany (typical for Europe) the current quotient of 26% is expected to rise to 44% in 2030 and 50% in 2050. He expected really "dramatic changes" after 2010 when the postwar "baby boomers" would retire. At the moment, we have the benefit of a "demographic interval" because these people are mostly still in the workforce. Other scholars presenting papers noted a "deeper crisis of the family" behind the welfare crisis, dating back to the social changes brought about by the permissive society in the 1960s, changes which have eventually led to a policy of disregard for the lives and welfare of the weakest members of the human family. Academy President Mary Ann Glendon Mary Ann Glendon (born October 7, 1938 Pittsfield, Massachusetts) J.D., LL.M., is the Learned Hand Professor of Law, at Harvard University Law School. She teaches and writes on bioethics, comparative constitutional law and human rights in international law. drew attention to this trend in welfare states towards "the abandonment and even extermination extermination mass killing of animals or other pests. Implies complete destruction of the species or other group. of persons who have become inconvenient and burdensome." Professor Glendon also referred to an even deeper spiritual crisis in the Western world, identified by John Paul II John Paul II, 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (1522–23) and the first Polish and Slavic pope. as a loss of hope stemming from "an attempt to promote a vision of man apart from God and apart from Christ." This can only lead to a self-serving outlook toward life and eventually nihilism nihilism (nī`əlĭzəm), theory of revolution popular among Russian extremists until the fall of the czarist government (1917); the theory was given its name by Ivan Turgenev in his novel Fathers and Sons (1861). . A ray of hope was offered by author Francis Fukuyama, who claimed that moral sense is an integral part of human nature. Moral decline, he said, is part of a cyclical process; history shows that societies are capable of "re-forming themselves" even after massive disruption (Zenit, May 6, 2004). |
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