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São Paulo, Brazil -- Refresher course for priests

From July 22 to 25, the International Institute of Social Sciences of São Paul, in collaboration with the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, and with the support of the Brazilian bishop’s conference and the Archdiocese of São Paul, organized the first Refresher Course for Priests. The topic was Human Nature, Marriage and the Family. The course offered an in-depth look at key moral questions for the Brazilian Church, in line with the proposals of the Fifth General Conference of Latin-American Bishops, which took place in Aparecida in May 2007.

The priests attending came from 40 different dioceses. The session centered on topics related to marital morality. “Structure and meaning of human sexuality,” “Responsible paternity and marital fidelity,” “Artificial procreation,” “Homosexuality and homophobia” were the titles of the sessions directed by Msgr. Angel Rodriguez Luño, Professor of Fundamental Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and Consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Fr. Rafael Stanziona de Moraes, professor of moral theology, explained the theological underpinnings to responsible paternity. Fr. Placimario Ferreira, vicar general for the Archdiocese of Brazilia, spoke about pastoral attention to divorced faithful. Prof. Manoel Augusto dos Santos, from the Pontifical University of Porto Alegre, directed study sessions on gender ideology and on globalization and demographic questions. The final day featured two conferences on the topics of “Fragmentation of experience and the formation of emotional stability” (Prof. José Lino Currás Nieto) and “Information on family values and family models in the communications media” (Fr. Michelino Roberto).

Romana, n. 47, July-December 2008, p. 338-339.

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