Theme and Scientific Committee
27th International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality
CALLED TO LIFE IN CHRIST
In the Church, in the world, in the present time
Monastery of Bose, 4-6 September 2019
in collaboration with the Orthodox Churches
“Adam, where are you?” (Gen 3,9). In the biblical tradition, God’s call is a call into being out of dust, a call to life, a call to become truly human.
In the Gospel, this call takes a concrete form in the person of Jesus of Nazareth: a response to God’s call involves the following of Christ (cf. Jn 1:38).
It is an encounter of wonder, the birth of an adventure that traverses history.
The 27th International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, organized in collaboration with the Orthodox Churches (Bose, 4-6 September 2019), seeks to rediscover the radicality and strength of the call to the Christian life, in the Church, in the world, in history, by listening to the Orthodox spiritual tradition.
According to the Vita, Anthony the Great, the “father of the monks”, in obedience to the Gospel sells everything and, following the Lord, he goes into the desert: it is the beginning of a movement of Christian radicalism, the roots of monasticism. The Fathers of the Christian East, from Basil to Chrysostom, have always stressed the radicalism of the Christian vocation, in its two dimensions of celibacy lived for the Kingdom (Mt 19:12) and of the fruitfulness of love between man and woman according to God’s plan (Mt 19:5-6).
Rethinking the rich and multiform tradition of the Christian East, the conference papers seek to explore the Orthodox theology of the monastic vocation and of marriage, the special charism of women in the life of the Church, the meaning of the life of a Christian community, the presence of beauty present in the Christian life, the Christian hope at different stages of life, also in the face of illness, suffering, death.
Life in Christ is witness to the possibility of a life full of meaning, a hope for all always present in the heart of humanity and creation.
Scientific Committee
Enzo Bianchi (President, Bose); John Behr (Crestwood, ny), Lino Breda (Bose), Sebastian Brock (Oxford), Lisa Cremaschi (Bose), Hyacinthe Destivelle (Roma), Adalberto Mainardi (Bose), Raffaele Ogliari (Bose), Antonio Rigo (Venezia).