General Information
Activities and opportunities
The Centre is animated by the conviction that Christianity is One and that the engagement of the churches in the ecumenical movement in an ever-more secularised world is crucial, not just in view of their general credibility but even of their basic survival as churches. The ecumenical idea is, in other words, the key principle of the International Bridgettine Centre of Fara Sabina. In order to realise this ideal the Centre arranges frequent conferences, symposia and meetings of different sorts with various recurrence:
Larger scale theological conferences every third year aimed at discussing vital and contemporary ecumenical questions that still divide the churches and therefore obstruct the churches from obeying Christ’s command, ut omnes unum sint. Participants at these conferences have always been high level theologians and church leaders mainly from the North and from Italy, but also from several other countries, where necessary for a proper discussion of a given theme. The Conferences are carried through independently of the official churches and their world organisations, yet always in concordance with these. Normally the material of the conferences (lectures, minutes, etc.) are published in Italian and English with the aim of rendering them accessible for a larger public.
Smaller symposia, also every third year, with the participation of ecumenical professional theologians from Italian, Nordic and other universities and institutes aimed at presenting and discussing significant scientific topics of the ecumenical theology (questions of method, reception of ecumenical results in the churches, Eucharist and ministry, etc.).
Post-graduate seminars, also recurring in a three-year cycle with the participation of doctoral students and other higher educators in ecumenical theology primarily from Nordic and Italian universities with the assistance of teachers from the same and other disciplines.
Apart from these activities, the Centre is open for groups and individuals who, for a shorter or longer period, wish to work on theological and cultural problems within the framework of its declared purposes or just desire to become acquainted with different confessional traditions, spirituality and culture. These may be scientists and writers who may need the last months of an undisturbed work period to complete a larger work. Or it may be artists, who in the newly furnished atelier seek inspiration in the special spiritual atmosphere that reigns in Farfa and in the wonderful nature and picturesque village.
Apart from these activities, the Centre is open for groups and individuals who, for a shorter or longer period, wish to work on theological and cultural problems within the framework of its declared purposes or just desire to become acquainted with different confessional traditions, spirituality and culture. These may be scientists and writers who may need the last months of an undisturbed work period to complete a larger work. Or it may be artists, who in the newly furnished atelier seek inspiration in the special spiritual atmosphere that reigns in Farfa and in the wonderful nature and picturesque village.