Joint Diploma in Women and Church 2022

Women and men in a synodal community

III Edition

 

OVERVIEW:

Initiative between the Institute of Higher Studies on Women of the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum, the Pontifical Urban University, the Pontifical Salesian University, the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Pontifical Faculty of Education Sciences Auxilium and the Institute of Theology of Consecrated Life Claretianum. Sponsored by the CRUIPRO and Academia de Líderes Católicos of Latin America.

The path deepens the specific contribution of women in the life and mission of the Church, to activate processes of mutual collaboration between women and men in ecclesial spaces. This reflection is linked to the question of the lay faithful, raised above all by the Second Vatican Council and not yet fully lived. Alongside the many examples of fruitful collaboration between men and women in the life and mission of the Church, there are also cultural and other barriers that obscure their reciprocity and effective cooperation. Moreover, the Church is convinced of the need to count on the contribution of women where decisions are taken. The Church needs to discover her feminine and maternal face, in order to live her vocation in full.  The horizon in which this reflection is placed is that of a Church that must make a journey of conversion to synodality. What is the role of women in this context?

 

AUDIENCE

The course is designed for priests, religious and laity (men and women) engaged in the ecclesial sphere at the curial, diocesan, academic level, or in formative roles in the different forms of consecrated or associative life, that want to raise awareness and activate processes in these areas, to promote greater and better collaboration between men and women within the Church.

 

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

Prerequisite of admission is to be in possession of a degree at least three years or be enrolled in a Pontifical Faculty (Theology/ Philosophy…).

 

EXPERIENCE OFFERED

• Basic Course online (36 hours), from 18 June to 2 July 2022. Its objective is to provide foundations, principles and criteria that must animate the promotion of women’s contribution in the Church and collaboration between men and women in ecclesial spaces.
• Attendance Laboratories (9 hours), from 16 to 21 January 2023. This experience focuses on the activation of processes that promote reciprocity and collaboration between men and women in the Church. Participation in the workshops is open only to those who have attended the basic course.
• Scholarships: in March 2022 will be published on www.upra.org the requirements to apply for a scholarship (partial or full coverage).

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The general program approach follows the dynamic of listening, discerning and acting.

To listen as a missionary disciple: to understand the current challenges in the different contexts: lights and shadows of the situation of women within the Church and of the collaboration between clerics and laity, enlightened by the gaze of faith and taking into account, the fruitful examples of cooperation between men and women and the difficult recognition of women in different geographical contexts.

Discern: understanding the causes of such challenges (cultural, historical and anthropological factors), the foundations and criteria to be used to guide thought and action.

Act: outline the paths to follow, the instruments necessary to walk towards the conversion and renewal of the Church, starting from the perspectives opened by the Second Vatican Council.

MODULES

Socio-historical: it presents the historical processes of the 19th century, which are still in existence in the first two decades of the 21st century, in which the various cultural questions are placed, with particular reference to strengths and weaknesses, the acquired convictions and the problematic nodes of the inculturation of the Catholic faith in its social dialogue, to suggest possible elements to proceed with a proactive spirit.

Anthropological (philosophical and theological): deepens the meaning of sexual difference in the human person and the complexity of elements that come into play in the formation of sexual identity, to enlighten how to express collaboration and reciprocity between men and women in ecclesial contexts.

Ecclesiological: starting from the ecclesiology of communion matured in the Second Vatican Council, it takes up the salient points of the conciliar and post-conciliar Magisterium with regard to the laity and women, to open paths of creative application, faithful and prophetic.

Mariological: develops what the figure of Mary says about the identity and mission of women in the Church, presents status quaestionis, some critical points and ways to go.

Workshops: a space to explore and enhance aspects of themselves to foster the perception of their masculinity or femininity (listen), interpret the content received (discern), customize a new way of relating and collaborating as a woman or man forwith-in Christ in the Church (acting).  The program of the Presences Laboratories (January 2023) will be presented in October 2022.

Scientific Committee:

• Anita Cadavid, Institute of Higher Studies on Women (APRA)
• Lorella Congiunti, Pontifical Urban University
• Catherine Droste, Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
• Mario Llanos, Pontifical Salesian University (UPS)
• Grazia Loparco, Pontifical Faculty of Education Sciences Auxilium
• Marta Rodriguez, Institute of Higher Studies on Women (APRA)
• Gianrico Ruzza, Bishop of Civitavecchia
• Nicla Spezzati, Pontifical Lateran University, Institute of Theology of Consecrated Life Claretianum

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Have a recognition of the newness of the Gospel in the understanding of the relationship between men and women, and deepen their alliance in the ecclesial sphere.
2. Assimilate the foundations and guiding criteria of the promotion of women’s contribution within the Church.
3. Identify the fundamental reasons for the difficulties faced by women in carrying out their full mission.
4. Understanding some expressions of female subjectivity in the life and mission of the Church in different contexts and grasping historical dynamism as a prerequisite for overcoming anachronistic patterns.
5. Develop the understanding of the Catholic tradition in a hermeneutic of continuity in different eras and cultures.
6. To grasp new and attractive perspectives of the mission of women within the Church starting from a renewed understanding of the baptismal vocation.

 

Coordinator of the Course: Professor Marta Rodríguez, coordinator of the Academic and Research Area, ISSD. Email: [email protected]

Dates: 18 June – 1 July 2022

Timetable: from 16:00 to 20:00 CEST | from 10:00 to 14:00 EDT

Credits: 4 ECTS

Cost: 200 euro.

 

For information:

Agnese Matteoli

E-mail: [email protected] –  Tel: +39  06 916 89 903