Patents on Life conference: must CST provide unique insights?

St. Thomas Law School's Murphy Institute, directed by MoJ's Lisa Schiltz, and the Von Hugel Institute are co-sponsoring a two-day conference at Cambridge University exploring "Patents on Life: Through the Lenses of Law, Religious Faith and Social Justice."  The opening panel featured several insightful exchanges. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva and the World Trade Organization, presented an overview of the Church's social teaching as it pertains to intellectual property, including the idea of a social mortgage on all private property and the need to balance incentives for innovation and the sharing of benefits that result from innovation.  When asked whether this emphasis simply reflects the state of the current public debate or contributes a distinctly Catholic insight, he rejected the suggestion that the Church must contribute a unique perspective.  What is important, he explained, is that there is a convergence of wills to do what is necessary to achieve a prudent balance between innovation incentives and benefit sharing.  His directness in answering the question is a helpful reminder that, as scholars and advocates mining the Catholic intellectual tradition, we need to be careful not to be distracted by a perceived need to articulate (or create) unique insights rather than support and facilitate "a convergence of wills," including wills forged by different traditions and worldviews.