From the Editor's Desk
Sometime last year I became aware of the planning for "The First International Cross-Cultural Conference of Theological Ethicists" to be held in Padua, July 8–11, 2006. That event having come and gone, it became clear to me that it was indeed an "event" that should be noticed by everyone interested in theology. To that end, I invited James F. Keenan, S.J., the principal organizer of the conference, to write a guest editorial on the experience.
David G. Schultenover, S.J.
Editor
Guest Editorial
One summer, while teaching at the Gregorian University in Rome, I invited my colleague Stephen Pope, who was in town, to dinner with three ethicists from Roman universities. During that delightful evening I began wondering, what if all theological ethicists got to meet one another at a nice Italian restaurant?
Later, I was approached by the staff of a European Catholic foundation who asked if I would be willing to host a seminar of international scholars, who would meet annually for four years, and at the end publish a text on themes in fundamental moral theology. I responded, "Could you fund, instead, an international planning committee for four years and at the end we will hold an international conference for 200 theological ethicists?" Happily, the foundation accepted my proposal, and a year later a planning committee emerged: Soosai Arokiasamy (India), Benezet Bujo (Congo), Margaret Farley (United States), Linda Hogan (Ireland), José Roque Junges (Brazil), José Rojas (Philippines), and Paul Schotsmans (Belgium), and myself.
To be truly international, we would have to ensure the presence of scholars from the developing world by underwriting their expenses. This would mean substantial fund-raising. Sensitive to the difficulty of securing visas for developing world participants, we recognized the impossibility of hosting the conference in the United States. Because travel would be less costly if we met in Europe, we needed to find a hospitable country. From experience we knew that obtaining visas for Northern Europe would be difficult, so we began thinking of Italy.
But where in Italy? We decided on Padua: a medieval city with one of the world's oldest and most respected universities, as well as a center of religious pilgrimage. This city where Giotto painted, Anthony lived, Galileo lectured, Harvey discovered the circulatory system, and Elena Piscopia became the first woman to earn a doctorate (1678) would be a perfect venue for contemporary moral theologians.
Having raised $450,000, assured Italian embassies around the world of the importance of granting visas for our participants, and presented our project to Padua's archbishop as well as to several cardinals in Italy and in the Vatican, on July 8 we welcomed 400 theological ethicists from 63 countries (190 of them having had their expenses covered).
Our conference was underway, with simultaneous translations into English, French, Spanish, and Italian. The inaugural session was held in the university's Great Hall, where Galileo lectured for 18 years, and there we invited the participants to reconsider their place in the universe, the world, and the Church.
The format of the program aimed to promote respectful sharing of theological insights. Thus, we had five continental panels: African, Asian, Latin American, European, and North American. Each had three panelists answering the same questions: What are our moral challenges? How are we responding? And what hope do we have for the future? We also sponsored four intercontinental panels on key themes: conscience and the magisterium, theological method, globalization, and religious pluralism.
Responding to our initiative for a call for papers in applied ethics, we had 120 presenters on such topics as environment, HIV/AIDS, access to health care, war, sexuality, marriage and the family, work and business, genetics and embryonic research. Finally, to fortify our relatedness, we worshipped daily and regularly dined together.
What Did We Achieve?
Let me name five important outcomes. First, as Padua's Archbishop Antonio Mattiazzo told us: it is one thing to read or cite colleagues; it is another to meet and discuss with them. Here we had the opportunity to ask our colleagues questions, to see what they were like as persons, and to tell them how our own work was proceeding. It was not simply a sharing of ideas; it was a meeting of persons.
Second, we discovered much in common, above all, that "we shared the same vocation," a comment frequently uttered. This extraordinary lesson prompted a strong intellectual and affective solidarity among us. It also gave us a renewed sense of the good we bring to the Church.
Third, with so much good will and respect for one another, we were able to challenge one another. When three senior African moralists on the continental panel concluded their remarks, three African women chided them for not mentioning anything about living in profoundly patriarchal settings. When a French scholar spoke of the primacy of the conscience, an Italian responded on the competency of the magisterium. The most significant exchange came when, after the North American panel spoke at length about the military aggressiveness of the United States, several others asked whether we were doing enough to counter the impact these policies were having in their own countries.
Fourth, appreciating the need to meet and dialogue spawned the formation of other groups. The Africans formed their first pan-African Association of Theological Ethicists, and the Asians explored similar possibilities. Women theologians, after 60 of them shared a dinner, established a list-serve. That same evening, 50 doctoral students held their own dinner, while 55 Jesuit ethicists gathered as well. Meeting was defining us.
Fifth, above all, the need to continue the dialogue emerged. We pledged to meet again in four years; to establish a committee to work toward implementing organizational structures for our solidarity; and to develop a monthly newsletter (http://www.catholicethics.com) to keep one another in touch. Continuum Press agreed to publish the 30 plenary presentations; Orbis Books will publish 30 of the applied ethics papers.
It was a wonderful first meeting.
James F. Keenan, S.J.
Professor of Theological Ethics
Boston College