Interesting another story showing the engagement occurring in the Vatican that seems to be on the upswing.

The TEDx Via della Conciliazione conference will be held in Rome on April 19, 2013, and will focus on the theme “Religious freedom today.” It is being coordinated under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Culture’s “Courtyard of the Gentiles” outreach, which aims to create a “dialogue between believers and non-believers.”

Those already confirmed as participants are drawn from the worlds of sport, music, culture and academia, including Vlade Divac, the former NBA basketball player; Gloria Estefan, the Cuban-born American pop singer; and the Japanese architect Etsuro Sotoo.

It is the invitation of Bolt, however, that has made the headlines. The 26-year-old recently won three gold medals at the London Olympics. As a Catholic, Bolt is known for making the Sign of the Cross before racing competitively. He also bears the middle name Saint Leo.

Among the other sporting personalities invited to participate is the Ivory Coast soccer star Didier Drogba. However, the NFL quarterback and Evangelical Christian Tim Tebow has already informed organizers that he will not be able to attend.

“I am thrilled to hear art and beauty placed side by side with physical excellence,” said art historian and fellow participant Elizabeth Lev told EWTN News.

“The Greeks knew athletic prowess was a gift from the heavens, and needed to be cultivated and appreciated as such. Artistic talent, also God-given, was used in the ancient world to produce the stunning sculptures we admire today in the Vatican Museums, from the discus thrower to the heroic amazons,” said Lev, who also works at the Vatican Museums.

She said she is “very much looking forward” to “promoting a modern conversation about art, faith and athletic achievement” in the same way that the early Christian community “extolled those same qualities in their saints and spirituality.”

TEDx signifies that it is a local TED talk and not coordinated by TED.  This talks follow a 18 minute format of “ideas worth spreading.”  The subject of religious liberty certainly falls into that topic.

I do wonder what  former Obama fundraiser Gloria Estefan will have to say about religious freedom?

Read more: EWTN News

In Fall 2012, the Vatican will launch a major global evangelization initiative for the digital world. 

Called aleteia – Seekers of the Truth!, the project has been developed by the Foundation for Evangelization in the Media, under the patronage of both thePontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

A collaborative platform, aleteia is an effort to reach millions—especially youth—by transmitting the Faith on the information superhighway.  The organization intends to become the premier Christian social media network on the web, by gathering together partners, media and individuals (members, contributors and experts) who will share in the large evangelization outreach both on-line and in the world.  To reach the greatest number of people, aletia’s content will be published in six languages.

More details via Kathy Schiffer.

DENVER, COLO., August 24 (CNA) .- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has criticized a Denver city councilwoman for withdrawing a proclamation that praised a Catholic-run company, after she learned that the owners filed a religious freedom lawsuit against the federal government.

“Choosing to marginalize the owners of Hercules for their religiosity is an insult to the founding values of our nation,” the Denver archbishop said in an Aug. 23 opinion piece in the Denver Post.

“When religious people are marginalized from the public square all of us lose,” he said. “Religious values (like those of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example) have served as forces for great public good in America. Public shame of the religiously convicted undermines the American ideal.”

His comments come in response to the actions of Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who had initially intended to recognized the Denver-based HVAC manufacturer Hercules Industries’ 50th anniversary.

… Kniech withdrew the proposed proclamation before its passage, saying she hoped to avoid a “partisan food fight” in an election year.

Archbishop Aquila said the resolution’s withdrawal is “unsurprising” but “disappointing.”

“By all appearances, Kniech discovered that Hercules had religious convictions, and she sought distance,” he said. [Source]