Peripheries. Poverty. Women: these are the subjects chosen to analyse the “Church of Francesco”, to ponder about the figure of Papa Bergoglio, to investigate the reform attempt he initiated.
It is the proposal of “Frontier Dialogues 2015”, three public meetings held in Rovereto between October and December 2015. The series, at his seventh edition, is organised by the Centro di Studi e Ricerche Antonio Rosmini of the University of Trento, with the Rovereto Municipality and the Biblioteca Rosminiana, in collaboration with the Rovereto Accademia degli Agiati.
« This edition novelty - explains Paolo Marangon, vice-director of the Centro di Studi e Ricerche Antonio Rosmini of the University of Trento – is the subject: “The Church of Francesco”. Why, as a university centre and therefore secular, we have chosen it? In the first place because Papa Francesco is, especially in these times, in the world public opinion spotlight : he spoke at the UN and at the USA Congress, his encyclical “Laudato si” has had a great impact at the international level, and so on so forth. Secondly these “Dialoghi 2015” represent the first attempt in Trentino of a public collective consideration about the Church, how Francesco desires it to be and he is changing it: we have called first quality speakers and chosen critical themes as the attention to geographic and existential peripheries, his recalls on poverty as a spiritual ethical and political lifestyle, and the new valorisation of the role and peculiarity of women». Marangon clarifies: «With this series in the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Council (1965-2015) we mean to favour a more thorough understanding of the figure of Papa Francesco and the grand attempt of reforming the Church he started. We wish to understand with which criteria and with which logic is moving the maximum moral authority of the planet and how is changing a secular institution of public significance as the Catholic Church».
To open the series will be Giulio Albanese, on Thursday October 29, Combonian missionary and journalist, with a dialogue on “The Church and the world peripheries”. He is a profound expert of the African reality; padre Albanese has founded in 1997 the MISNA agency (Missionary International Service News Agency) which provides an important service of alternative information from poor Countries. At the moment he is the director of the missionary magazines of the Vatican. Among his numerous publications, most recently “The world peripheries. The Christian testimony following Paolo Collini Francesco” (Emi, Bologna, 2014). Coordinating the conference with padre Albanese will be Michele Dossi.
Later meetings:
Wednesday, November 18 - “The poor Church (comment on the 5th affliction) with Francesco Miano (professor of Moral Philosophy - University of Roma Tor Vergata, already president of Azione Cattolica). Francesco Ghia will coordinate. The reference text will be the work of Antonio Rosmini “Delle cinque piaghe della Santa Chiesa”.
Tuesday, December 1: “The Church according to women” with Cristina Simonelli (president of the Coordination of the Italian Women Theologist). Paolo Marangon will coordinate.
All meetings will be held at 8:30 pm. The venue of “Dialoghi di frontiera” is the conference room of the Caritro Foundation in Rovereto (Piazza Rosmini, 5).
Entrance is free and open to the public.
The series is recognised for teachers as professional updating.
The series is organised by the Centro di Studi e Ricerche Antonio Rosmini of the University of Trento - Department of Humanities with the Rovereto Municipality and the Biblioteca Rosminiana, in collaboration with Accademia roveretana degli Agiati and the support of the San Marco parish of the Convents association.