Bridging the gap between science and faith

The 10th International Symposium of University Professors is set to take place in Rome from June 20 to 22nd, under the theme Culture before God: Challenges, research projections from the Mediterranean Area to the World. The meeting will feature 300 speakers within 22 sub-groups among all the Universities of Rome.

Auxiliary Bishop Lorenzo Leuzzi, designated as delegate for the Pastoral Care of Universities, explained that The Symposium is special for us since it is the tenth year of the discussion. On one hand, it is a very ambitious goal that shouldn't be underestimated, on the other hand it is a consolidation of the network of Roman University Professors.  The choice to have the meetings take place in different Roman Universities, was born to foster a greater involvement both of university professors and university students who become the real stars of our meeting.

The Meeting will begin on June 20th at 4.15 p.m. with a prestigious opening ceremony at the Protomoteca Hall at Campidoglio in the presence of the Cardinal Vicar, His Eminence, Agostino Vallini and two academic professors: Gracie Davie, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Exeter University and Hani Mortuada, the Rector of Damask University, who is currently exiled to Lebanon because of the terrible civil war which is upsetting the nation.

Bishop Leuzzi explained, We chose the Mediterranean topic, since it is a symbolic place, in which the main faculty is located. It’s the logos place and where God transcended the human being: different but talking together. And, as Pope Francis often reminds us, this will be a definitive place for the processing of a new cultural summary suitable for thinking and planning a new social development.

Further meetings will take place on June 21st and will deal with various topics. They will range from the sustainable as a possible new development of the society, to the centrality of human beings in enterprise for the future. Other topics ranging from such humanistic issues as theological faith and philosophical thought or how to convey hope flying over the crisis ... to more technical ones that will try to comprehend the limits of scientific research, will all be considered

What we are trying to do, explained the Bishop, is to promote cooperation through different meetings in order to foster a network of projects among different major universities and the professors who help us to make the Symposium a very crucial appointment for the 'Academic World'.

In this edition there will be many side events which will enrich the program especially on the 21st at the Antonianum Auditorium when  the discussion entitled Space and God will take place in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency along with the participation of world famous scientist Antonino Zichichi.