Workshops

How can we rekindle our Christian identity by rediscovering our roots? How does this strengthen us? How can we keep our community open and welcoming?

Ivan Plavsic and Marija Encinias share their rediscovery of their Christian identity and their commitment to serving the new Serbian Orthodox mission parish in Rome. Find out how this has enabled them to bear witness to an identity that is both open to others and also rooted in their own history and culture, and share with them.

What is Christ trying to tell us by placing the little ones at the centre of the community of disciples? How does he show that a fulfilled life is found via our vulnerabilities?

Starting from a Bible study, Eric Noffke, Professor of New Testament at the Waldensian Faculty of Theology in Rome, leads a discussion with a panel of church representatives, interacting with the participants: Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba (United Church of Zambia, Director of the WCC program for unity, mission and ecumenical formation), Revd. Dr Jong Chun Park (President of the World Methodist Council), Anne-Laure Danet (in charge of relation with Churches at the French Protestant Federation).

http://facoltavaldese.org/it

The search for Christian unity has developed new approaches, dynamics and priorities over time, but the ultimate goal does not change: to strengthen the awareness of our common identity in Christ for a more effective witness to the Gospel in the world.

The Workshop titled “History of a Future” will take place at the Centro Pro Unione, an ecumenical research centre of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, in the very historic room where, 60 years ago, the actors of the Second Vatican Council – Conciliar Fathers, Periti, Observers and Ecumenical Guests, including Brother Roger Schutz himself – used to meet weekly to exchange their ideas, in what has been called the “Secret Council” as it was lived out in the everyday interpersonal relationships that gave an indelible impetus to the Ecumenical Movement.

During the Workshop, some features of the contemporary Ecumenical Movement will be presented along with some snapshots on the beginnings of the dialogue to stimulate shared reflection among participants.

How can we build relationships with believers of Islam, and what can we learn from these experiences?

Fr Augustin Sawadogo and Fr Vincent Somboro, professors at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), and Sister Iwona Cholewinska of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) share their experiences of living in Muslim societies in Burkina Faso and Algeria. Discover how a relationship with believers of other religions can become a source of life, welcoming others into our own lives.

https://fr.pisai.it/home/ https://www.msolafrica.org/

How does spiritual life become the meeting ground between religions, and what do we learn together when we listen to each other?

Sr Alice Reuter (Bose community) and Rev Doryu Cappelli (Centro Zen Anshin) share their personal experiences of the monastic perspective on interreligious dialogue.

Bose is a community seeking God in obedience to the Gospel and living in fraternal communion and celibacy. https://www.monasterodibose.it/en/

Centro Zen Anshin is a centre for the practice of Soto Zen Buddhism and psychophysical arts and disciplines: creative dance, Tai Chi-Qi Gong. https://anshin.it/en/

Have you ever wondered about the real-life experience of refugees?

This workshop, led by staff – including people with lived experience – from Centro Astalli, an offshoot of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Italy, aims to bring this experience to the eyes and ears of participants. Exile is a constant phenomenon in the Bible, and migration is one of the global challenges of today’s world. Meeting refugees will give participants a better understanding of the ‘why’ and the ‘who’ of today’s displacements. You will have the opportunity to listen to and interact with migrants and refugees, and also to share your questions and experiences with other participants.

www.jrs.net www.centroastalli.it

Where are refugees received in Rome?

The Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre (JNRC) welcomes you to hear about the places that refugees encounter on their arrival in Rome. You’ll discover the answers and the different opportunities it offers to those who pass through. Housed in the crypt of St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church, it is a day centre where refugees and asylum seekers can relax, learn and receive advice on how to achieve their goals.

https://www.jnrc.it/

How can we welcome and care for the gift of creation? How is climate change affecting our lives and those of those around us?

The Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide invite you to reflect by offering three sub-workshops:

• Climate change: terror for the poor
• Economy and ecology go hand in hand (inspired by Francesco’s Economy)
• Ecological spirituality in everyday life

Each workshop will include personal accounts and will be followed by a discussion.

https://www.suoredellacarita.org/fr/

How can we see diversity and frailty as a richness in our lives?

Members of Faith and Light from Rome will welcome you. This workshop values “diversity”, first and foremost that of our friends with disabilities, but also that of their parents and all those who visit their communities. It also tackles the themes of religious, cultural and linguistic diversity, always highlighting the two aspects of richness and fragility. At Faith and Light, these diversities not only add up, they multiply, they “amplify”; “we recognise this “Magnificat” as a great richness and in a way we offer it, not only to the Lord, but also to society, to our Churches, and to institutions”.

https://www.fedeeluce.it/

This workshop will delve into the journey of the Sant’Egidio Community, exploring its mission of service to the marginalized and its commitment to peace-building. We will delve into the core principles that drive the Community’s actions, including prayer, solidarity with the poor, and dedication to peace. By examining their experience, we hope to foster a deeper understanding of the bounds between spiritual devotion and meaningful social impact.

https://www.santegidio.org/

Who is ‘the other’ and what can we do to come closer to them?

This workshop provides three different perspectives on encountering ‘the other’: The perspective of the Protestants of Rome, who were for a long time considered as ‘the others’, a witness perspective from Ibrahim Diabate on the migrant as the other, and a perspective from the Diaconia Valdese on social volunteer work to meet the other in need and to be the other for your neighbour. With these testimonies, we follow a pathway from distance and difference to proximity and communion.

This workshop is coordinated by pastor Luca Baratto, Executive Secretary of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) https://www.fcei.it/

How can we get involved in the fight against human trafficking and exploitation, and what can we learn from this experience?

In this workshop, we invite you to journey with migrant populations as pilgrims of human dignity and hope. Young people, adults and children, people of different religious traditions, cultures and generations, together in search of the gift that each person is, against all forms of exploitation and trafficking in human beings. It is together that we can best fight human trafficking! By building international networks, sharing, talking and celebrating successes, we can protect dignity like a light that never goes out, as Pope Francis called us to do on 8 February 2023.

The workshop is proposed by Talitha Kum International (www.talithakum.info) in collaboration with All Saint’s Anglican Church Rome (https://www.allsaintsrome.org/), the Clewer Initiative (https://theclewerinitiative.org/) and Partners of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking (https://preghieracontrotratta.org/)

Languages: IT/EN/ES/FR

What can we do to help those who need food? Why is this so important? What can we learn from it?

In this workshop, Caritas Roma welcomes you to the Mensa de Colle Opio to tell you its story and that of this canteen. After this testimony, you are invited to participate in a hands-on way by serving the meal and sharing with the Mensa’s guests.

Note that this workshop includes interaction with those who attend the Mensa on a daily basis.

Caritas of Rome is a service of the diocesan Church that promotes charity in all its forms in parishes and local communities, with a priority on human development, social justice and peace. http://www.caritasroma.it/

How can we open our doors and welcome those who ask for help?

Caritas Roma will welcome you in its night hostel under Termini station, to discover the hospitality offered to those without a roof over their heads and the steps taken to help them. Through the testimonies of staff and volunteers, the debate is open to share experiences and reflections.

Caritas of Rome is a service of the diocesan Church that promotes charity in all its forms in parishes and local communities, with a priority on human development, social justice and peace. http://www.caritasroma.it/

What does dealing with prisoners change in me? How does our baptism invite us to take concrete responsibility for making the earth habitable for everyone?

Getting close to prisoners in great economic difficulty, supporting them and helping their families. Helping former inmates of the Rebibbia prison in Rome to reintegrate into society and their families.

Building a Village for the Earth in the middle of Rome to mark World Earth Day, to celebrate and raise awareness of the challenges of peace, care for creation, sustainable development, etc., from the youngest to the oldest. Young people from the Focolare Movement talk about their commitment to the most forgotten members of society and to future generations.

https://romaamor.org/   http://www.progettosemprepersona.it/index.htm  

https://www.focolaritalia.it/

How can we spread the Good News in a society that is far removed from the Church? What kind of creativity is needed to explore new fields of mission? How can we reconcile the radical newness of Christ with the need to convey him in people’s own cultures?

Proclaiming Christ, bearing witness to his love, recognising that the Holy Spirit is at work before us: the many facets of mission. Testimonies, followed by a round table and discussion with participants.

The workshop is run by Augustin Leray, International Youth Coordinator, Emmanuel Community https://emmanuel.info/jeunes/ https://trinitadeimonti.net/. Father Humphrey Mukuka (Missionary of Africa, originally from Zambia) will share his experience https://mafrome.org/home/.

How does synodality renew our vision and our place in the Church? How will it revitalise the life of local communities, dioceses and the universal Church?

You are invited to take part in the second day of the colloquium on the Topicality of the Ecclesiology of Cardinal Henri de Lubac. His thought and his work demonstrate a faith attuned to the problems of his time. Along with the specific churches in the universal Church, he is one of the main theologians who have reflected on the “components of the essential structure of the Church”.

9h-10h30: Don Vincenzo Arborea: The influence of H. de Lubac on the ecclesiology of Benedict XVI

Mme Isabella Bruckner: La Chiesa fra mistica e istituzione. Prospettive di H. de Lubac e M. de Certeau

Fr Christoph Theobald: The ecclesiology of K. Rahner: similarities and differences with Lubacan ecclesiology

11h-12h: Mme Brigitte Cholvy : A few remarks on the topicality of de Lubac’s ecclesiology

Fr. Nicolas Steeves: Paradoxes and adaptation: imagining a faithful and creative foundational ecclesiology

12h-12h30: Conclusions, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops’ Conference

https://www.unigre.it/en/events-and-communication/events/events-calendar/lecclesiologie-du-pere-de-lubac/programme/

Note: in French and Italian

How can we witness to the Gospel in a way that is credible today? What makes the Gospel hearable for people today? Is an authentic witness to the Gospel possible after the cover up of so many cases of sexual abuse and violence by Church authorities?

What makes the Church not only a safe place but also a community which tries to live out the Gospel? Which changes in structure and leadership are needed to encourage more transparency, participation, shared responsibility and commitment of all, especially women? How can we ensure that each individual person is accepted as they are?

Christians all over the world in different Churches struggle with these questions. In this workshop, we want to share experiences from the Synodal Pathway in Germany.

With Katharina Norpoth and Jörg-Michael Peters from the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Germany. Moderation: Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler, delegate to the Synod of Bishops, Switzerland.

How is the liturgy central to the life of the Orthodox community? How does a parish that brings together faithful from different backgrounds become a crucible of unity?

“As Romanian Orthodox living in Italy, we experience unity and fraternity in diversity”. Witness and exchange with leaders and young people from the Romanian Orthodox parish community of the Nativity of the Mother of God.

https://www.mitropolia.eu/fr/

Brother Sabino (prior of the Bose community) and Bishop Karin Johannesson (Church of Sweden) share their experiences of prayer in this workshop. Learn from them and exchange ideas with them on the theme of prayer, in the church where Saint Benoît Joseph Labre, the patron saint of the homeless, prayed and was buried.

https://www.monasterodibose.it/en/ https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/uppsalastift/biskop-karin-johannesson

Do you like to pray in song? Unite your voices in this workshop and learn songs in unison and polyphony on the theme of peace, in European languages, including “The Kingdom of God (is justice and peace)” and other songs.

Organised by the ecumenical Fondacio movement (Sylvie Barth, Béatrice Thiébo, Daniel Crevier and Maurice Barth) and by Miled Tabaray and the choir of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) in Lebanon. You don’t need any musical skills to take part!

How can we continue to build Europe in a constantly changing context? Where can we find new hope and new motivation to continue this work?

Young and not-so-young people are using the synodal perspective to re-examine their commitment to Europe. Share and discuss various topical issues with them, and find out what you can do to get involved.

The workshop is being prepared by a team led by: Marius Schlageter, Clara Föller, and Philippe Lamberts.

The young guides of Pietre Vive (Living Stones) give voice to stones and works of art. The walls, frescoes and doors of the Basilica of San Vitale tell the story of 16 centuries of prayer, reflection on faith and Christian mission.

http://www.pietre-vive.org/ https://santivitale.com/

The Lateran Baptistery was built in the 4th century near Rome’s first cathedral. It preserves the memory and tells the story of Constantine, the first Roman emperor to become a Christian, and of a local Church that continued to proclaim Christ for 16 centuries. Baptisms are still celebrated here every week. Guided tour by Pietre Vive (Living Stones).

http://www.pietre-vive.org/ https://www.battisterolaterano.it/

The Church of Saint Ignatius in Rome is linked to the origins of the Collegio Romano founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1551. It contains the tombs of Jesuit saints Aloysius Gonzaga, Robert Bellarmino and John Berchmans. The technical virtuosity of the Baroque architects, painters and sculptors testifies in its own way to the faith in the Spirit at work in the world’s fabric. A team of young guides from Pietre Vive (Living Stones) welcomes you.

http://www.pietre-vive.org/ https://santignazio.gesuiti.it/en/

How can I discern my path and make choices as an adolescent? Who can I talk to? When should I make an important decision?

Youth leaders from the parish of the Ascension of Our Lord share their experience in oratorio services and summer camps. They are ready to answer your questions.