The Social Doctrine of Benedict XVI in ‘Caritas in Veritate’ (PDF) 2010
Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Casina Pio IV
00120 Vatican City
Governance
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast (Ghana), was born on 11 October 1948 in Nsuta Wassaw, Ghana.
He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cape Coast on 20 July 1975 and did doctoral studies in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He taught at St Theresa’s Minor Seminary and St Peter’s Major Seminary.
On 6 October 1992 he was appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast and ordained on 27 March 1993, and he was created and proclaimed Cardinal by St. John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 October 2003, of the Title of San Liborio (St. Liborius).
Cardinal Turkson was President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (1997-2005) and member of the Pontifical Commission for Methodist-Catholic Dialogue; Chancellor of the Catholic University College of Ghana; member of the National Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment; member of the Board of Directors of the Central Regional Development Committee and treasurer of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
He is a member of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and for the Evangelization of Peoples; of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and for the Cultural Heritage of the Church; and of the XII Ordinary Council of the Secretariat General of the Synod of Bishops.
He attended the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 10 April to 8 May 1994; the 9th Ordinary General Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 2-29 October 1994; the 11th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 2-23 October 2005 and the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 5-26 October 2008. General Relator of the 2nd Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, “The Church in Africa, at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. ‘You are the salt of the earth, ... you are the light of the world’” (4-25 October 2009).
On 24 October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named him President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Pope Francis reconfirmed him in this position in 2013.
In 2016, he was appointed by Pope Francis as first Prefect of the new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and also given the task of managing the Vatican Covid Commission in 2020.
Since June 2022 he is the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
“Inculturation: A Biblical Perspective”, in: Inculturation (eds. Peter Turkson and Frans Wijsen, KTC, Kampen 1994, 1-9);
“Evangelization in Africa”, in: John Paul II and the New Evangelization (eds. Ralph Martin and Peter Williamson, Servant Books, Cincinnati 2006 pg. 94-111);
“An Integral Ecology for Integral Society: The great challenge of our time”, in: The Integral Ecology of Pope Francis for safeguarding our common home, Milan 2019;
“Integral Peace, Development and Ecology”, in: Catholic Peacebuilding and Mining, ed. Gerard Powers and Caesar A. Montevecchio, Notre Dame, 2019;
Booklets of the series, „Kirche und Gesellschaft, Grüne Reihe“:
- Peter Kardinal Turkson, Integraler Humanismus und Wirtschaftsökologie, Überlegungen aus Anlass der Amazonas-Synode, Hrsg. Ksz, Nr.463, 2019;
- Peter Kardinal Turkson & Peter Schallenberg, Fratelli tutti: Eine theologische-Sozialethik der politschen Liebe, Hrsg. Ksz, Nr.475, 2020;
- Peter Kardinal Turkson / Peter Schallenberg / Ulrich Schürenkrämer, Investment in der Sicht einer Ökonomik der Gratuität nach Laudato sì (2015) und Fratelli tutti (2020), Hrsg. Ksz, Nr. 485,
- Peter Kardinal Turkson, „Oeconomicae et Pecuniariae Questiones”: Überlegungen zu einer ethischen Abwägung einiger Aspekte des gegenwärtigen Wirtschaft- und Finanzsystems, (in the press).
Peter K.A. Turkson & Vittorio Alberti, Corruzione, Combattere la corruzione nella Chiesa e nella società, Rizzoli 2017, Milano.