Theologians master culture

The VI Forum of Theologians of Eastern and Central Europe, organized by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow and the Catholic Franciscan Order in Russia with the participation of the Art of Good charity foundation, began today at the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The theme of the conference is “The Culture We Need: Christian Values ​​in Modern Europe.”

The first meeting was opened by the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, who began his speech with the question: what kind of culture does modern European society, facing seemingly insoluble problems, need? The Bishop called to perceive this world as a home in which we all have to live. “The ability to dialogue,” he said, “presupposes the ability not only to listen, but also to hear each other. You can become an individual only in communication with others. Fortunately, as, alas, we are laying the foundations for problems for subsequent generations today.”

The forum is held under the auspices of the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lublin. bliss John Paul II. The inspirer and leader of the project is the famous Catholic theologian and Mariologist Professor Fr. Celestin Napyurkowski OFMConv (Lublin, Poland).

He said that the program of the current conference differs from previous ones, which were held in Hungary, Ukraine and other countries; The forum is meeting in Russia for the second time: in 2010, the meeting place was St. Petersburg. But all past meetings were devoted mainly to understanding the past - now on the agenda are issues on which the future depends. With the collapse of communist regimes in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, management methods changed, but the general secular direction of development remained. For a new Christianization, it is necessary to overcome the boundaries of states and churches, we need to better understand each other, become clearer ourselves and gradually develop a common position on issues that are important to people.

Father Celestine proposed to rely on the definition of the concept of “culture” given at the Second Vatican Council: “The word “culture” in a general sense denotes everything through which a person refines and develops various mental and physical gifts; with his knowledge and labor he tries to subordinate to his power the whole world; makes social life more humane both in the family and in the entire civil community due to the progress of morals and institutions; finally, throughout the centuries, expresses, communicates and preserves in its creations great spiritual experience and sublime aspirations, so that they serve the benefit of many - nay, to the whole human race."

Among the forum speakers are famous Polish, Slovak, and Russian theologians, scientists, biblical scholars, teachers of higher educational institutions, publishers of spiritual literature, translators, and specialists in the field of culture and art. The topic of the existence of Christian culture in the territories of the former Soviet Union and the countries of the “Soviet camp” will be touched upon in a special way, since it was the Orthodox Church that took the brunt of the atheistic Soviet culture. There will be presentations by candidate of cultural studies Irina Yazykova “Can culture exist without memory?” and Ph.D. philologist. Sciences Anna Forostenko (MSU) “Something is rotten in the Danish Kingdom,” or an assessment of the influence of modern culture on the translation of the Sacred Text.”

In the first report, priest Dr. Adam Semak, who specializes in dialogue with the Lutheran Church, made a proposal to include such a new item as “culture” in the negotiation process. “After many years of dialogue on topics such as dogma, the Eucharist and other sacraments, and the approach to the priesthood, we sadly conclude that we are still at the same point,” he said. “It is possible that dialogue on the topic of “culture” will more fruitful, since discussions are possible on this platform, unlike, say, dogmatics.” Moreover, there is a direct connection between culture and religion: religion needs culture at least for self-expression.

The priest, however, immediately received a question from the audience: the ordination of women, currently practiced in some churches, is a problem of culture, not religion. And this is the “cultural moment” that will also be extremely difficult to overcome. How can we be here?

The conference will last until November 18 and in the following days will be held at the St. Thomas, Public Orthodox University named after. O. Alexandra Menya and the Pokrovsky Gate cultural center, which is co-organizing the forum.

A detailed program of the forum was published in the official forum groups on the social networks VKontakte and Facebook .