URBI ET ORBI-CATHOLICISM AND THE CITY OF ROME
A joint project of three international universities:
LUMSA University,University of Notre Dame and Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)
6 March-24 April
Offered in preparation of the 2025 jubilee, this course will consider the influence of the city of Rome on the Catholic Church and vice versa from a multiplicity of complementary perspectives. It aims to offer a historical and theoretical introduction to the city and to the role it has played and continues to play in the Catholic Church.
In conversation with a selection of texts from the New Testament, Church Fathers, and recent Magisterial teaching, this course will explore how Christians lived and continue to live their faith in this city through the exploration of history, theology, art, and spirituality from the first centuries of the Church in Rome to today.
Participants will explore how the church developed in Rome, from its foundation through to its legalization under Constantine and the emergence of the papacy. Rome has been a centre of Christianity since shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The monuments, art and architecture of Rome reveal important dimensions of how Christians lived in various ages. Participants will discover how the theology of martyrdom shaped the lives of early believers and how the Apostles Peter and Paul became pivotal figures in the city, in the Church, and in the world. They will discover the importance of pilgrimage in Christian spirituality and especially in Rome. They will consider how the early Christians worshipped together in house churches, explore the significance of some exemplary male and female saints, reflect on the commitment of the early Christians to serving the poor, and consider how these impact both Catholicism and the city today.
Above all this course aims to form a cohesive group of women and men from different nationalities and diverse academic backgrounds who are committed to “walking together” on a pilgrim path and who desire to learn together and from each other about the treasures that Catholicism has received from the city of Rome and can now offer urbi et orbi.
Programme and contacts for Urbi et Orbi course
Urbi et Orbi