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Augustinian Institute Centre For Augustinian & Patristic Studies & The City of God

Seminar

Courses on:

Augustinian

Theology,

Philosophy,

Spirituality &

Patristic Studies

__________________

_________

Director: Revd Professor Salvino CARUANA OSA

SThD Visiting Professor, Faculty of Theology,

University of Malta

PO BOX 61 MSIDA PO MSD 1000 - MALTA

T 2124 9407 (Office + Fax Valletta) 2124 5934 (Valletta –

St. Augustine’s)

M 9940 2102 – 7929 4177

E Univ. of Malta salvino.caruana@um.edu.mt

caruana.salvino@gmail.com

W www,instagostmalta.com

Secretary: A. Borg – 2701 0827 M 9945 0099 - 7770 8700 E toineborg@onvol.net

Academic Year 2017-2018

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A brief history

In 1998, The Provincial Chapter nominated the Rev. Professor Salvino Caruana OSA as successor to the Rev. Professor Edward Fenech OSA to direct the Augustinian Institute. In that same year, the Institute was transferred from the Augustinian Monastery of Valletta, to Pietà, where the Institute was now housed in a larger premises consisting of several rooms, offices, lecture halls, chapel, and prayer room. The premises include now two spacious halls furnished with all the necessary modern didactic instruments, the secretary's office, as well as a library specializing in works on the life, thought and writings of the great Father and Doctor of the Church, Augustine of Hippo, and the Fathers of the Church.

Fr Caruana considered a priority the publicizing of the new academic study-units that would be given at the Augustinian Institute. The academic year would now consist of four events. The first and major study-unit would be the Augustine For All series of lectures from September to December. The second study-unit would comprise the two lectures in the Annual Saint Augustine Lecture, one held at the University of Malta, and the other at the Institute. A scholar of international repute in Augustinian studies and research would be invited to deliver the Annual Lecture. The third aspect of the annual curriculum would be the Lectio Augustini. The Lectio consists of 8 sessions of two hours each, from January to March of the academic year, during which a specific text of Augustine related to the over-arching topic of the current academic year would be read and analyzed. A two-year study-unit on Patrology (1st - Vth) has replaced the fourth aspect of the curriculumm namely, the two-year course in the Philosophy For All. In 2015, during one of the last meetings of the board of the Augustinian Institute, Fr Salvino Caruana presented and brought to a fruitful discussion, the idea of a fifth aspect in the curriculum. After three encounters with H. Em. Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi in Rome, the inaugural session of the contemporary interpretation of the Courtyard of the Gentiles was delivered by H. Em. Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi on the 24th January 2017. Ravasi developed the theme of Il Tempio e la Piazza. Fede, cultura e società, alongside some ideas drawn from Augustine of

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Hippo's The City of God. The second in the series was delivered by His Eminence Prospero Cardinal Grech OSA.

Fr Salvino also recognized the great importance, as well as a great priority running parallel to the recognition and resumption of academic activity at the Institute, the task of healing past grievances with the academic institutions and others on the Island. The more urgent ones being those created with the State University of Malta, especially with the Faculty of Theology, as well as those with the local ecclesiastical hierarchy. The results of these efforts were reaped very quickly when the highest representatives from both institutions, three Rectors of the University, and two Archbishops, subsequently accepted invitations to preside academic events, or to address topics on specific aspect of politics and

Reception area Augustinian Institute

church life; distributed certificates of attendance, or else were often present for the Annual Augustine Lecture at the University of Malta. Besides setting many minds at rest, this situation also resulted in an opportunity for enhancing the influence, operation and recognition, of the sterling work being done, as well as the success being reaped at the Institute. Several deans, heads of departments from various faculties at the State University of Malta, accepted to deliver lectures at the Institute. Besides, quite a number of students from various faculties were also encouraged to follow study-units in theology and philosophy offered at the Institute. At the end of each academic year, a Certificate of Attendance is awarded to participants.

Kors G]al Kul]add (Augustine For All)

KORS G}AL KUL}ADD

"Naturally a politician will seek success, without which he would have no opportunity for effective

political action at all. Yet success is subordinated to the criterion of justice, to the will to do what is

right., and to the understanding of what is right. Success can also be seductive and thus can open up the

path towards the falsification of what is right, towards the destruction of justice. "Without justice - what

else is the State but a great band of robbers?," as Saint Augustine once said. (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Address to Federal Parliament in Berlin's Reichstag Building: Politics at the Service of Rights and Justice, September

24, 2011 AAS 103 (2011), 663-669).

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2017-2018

Kors g]al-Kul]add

L-Ereżija u l-Ortodossija

sekli 1 sa 6

1. Il-{img]a, 6 t’Ottubru 2017 fis-6.00pm

Quddiesa tal-Ftu] tas- Sena Akkademika 2017-2018 Em. T. Il-Kard. P. Grech OSA

Fis-6.35pm sas 7.15pm

Criteria for heresy and orthodoxy in the Early Church

H. Em. Prospero Cardinal Grech OSA

2. Il-Ġimgħa, 13 t’Ottubru 2017

Pneumatology in the works of Sergei Bulgakov (1871-1944) Dr Nadia Delicata PhD (Tor.)

3. Il-Ġimgħa, 20 t’Ottubru 2017

Ori[ene bejn qaddis u eretku

Dottsa Ritienne Debono MD FRCP

4. Il-Ġimgħa, 27 t'Ottubru 2017

Il-Missirijiet tal-Knisja Kappado`i u l-ere\iji ta'\mienhom

Revdu Kan. Dr Jonathan Farrugia SThD

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5. Il-{img]a, 3 ta’ Novembru 2017

Atanasju ta' Lixandra kontra l-Arjani\mu

Revdu Professur Dun Hector Scerri SThD (Greg.)

6. Il-Ġimgħa, 10 ta’ Novembru 2017

L-ere\ija fil-[rajja tal-Knejjes tal-Lvant Nisrani (sekli 1 sas-6 seklu)

Revdu Professur Martin Zammit PHD

7. Il-{img]a l-17 ta' Novembru 2017

Stu Wistin u l-Pela[jani\mu

Revdu Prof. Patri Salvinu Caruana OSA SThD (Melit.)

8. Il-Ġimgħa, 24 ta’ Novembru 2017

Nisa ereti`i matul il-[rajja Nisranija (sekli 1-6) Dr Pauline Dimech PhD (Durham)

9. Il-Ġimgħa, 1 ta’ Di`embru 2017

Stu Wistin u d-Donati\mu fl-Afrika ta' Fuq

Revd Pierre Desira OSA SThL (Aug.)

10. Il-Ġimgħa, 15 ta’ Diċembru 2017

Stu Wistin u s-SemiPela[janiz\mu

Revdu Prof. Patri Salvinu Caruana OSA SThD (Melit.)

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Lectio Augustini

It-Tag]lim Nisrani ta' Stu Wistin 1. Il-Ġimgħa, 19 ta’ Jannar 2018

2. Il-Ġimgħa, 26 ta’ Jannar 2018

3. Il-Ġimgħa, 2 ta’ Frar 2018

4. Il-Ġimgħa, 9 ta’ Frar 2018 5. Il-Ġimgħa, 16 ta’ Frar 2018

6. Il-Ġimgħa, 23 ta’ Frar 2018

7. Il-Ġimgħa, 2 ta’ Marzu 2018 8. Il-Ġimgħa, 9 ta’ Marzu 2018

Tqassim ta' ~ertifikat ta' Attendenza

wara l-lezzjoni

Ri`eviment

Il-lezzjonijiet kollha jing]ataw mir-Revdu Professur Patri Salvinu Caruana

OSA

Il-ktieb ta' Stu Wistin Tag]lim Nisrani jista' jinxtara mill-Istitut Agostinjan g]all-prezz ta' €10

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The City of God

Seminar (2)

Augustinian Institute Centre for Augustinian &

Patristic Studies Pietà - Malta

The Maltese Augustinian Province

cordially invites you to for

The 2nd

edition of

The City of God Seminar

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His Eminence Prospero Cardinal Grech OSA will address the audience on the theme

The New Testament & the Political Powers of this World

on Thursday 5

th October 2017 at 6.30pm

Venue: St Augustine's Hall The Augustinian Institute

Gwardamangia Hill

Evening's programme

6.15pm seating

6.30 pm arrival of H. Em. Prospero Cardinal Grech OSA

6.35pm welcome address by Revd Prof. Salvino Caruana OSA

6.45pm Lecture by H. Em Prospero Grech OSA

7.25pm discussion time

7.45pm Closing Address by the Revd Prof. Salvino Caruana OSA

7.50pm drinks

Revd Dr Paul Sciberras (UOM) will chair the event

(Ample parking space provided in College grounds)

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Prospero Grech (born 24th

December 1925) is a Maltese

Augustinian friar, who co-founded

the Institutum Patristicum

Augustinianum in Rome and was

created a cardinal on 18 February

2012. He was appointed cardinal

deacon of the Church of St. Maria

Goretti. Born Stanley Grech

at Vittoriosa, Malta, on 23

December 1925, he studied at the

Lyceum. Joining the Augustinian

Order in 1943, he was ordained to

the priesthood at the Basilica of St

John Lateran in Rome in 1950.

Prior to being ordained to the

priesthood in 1950, while Malta

was under siege during the Second World War, Grech served as a gunner

in the Royal Malta Artillery. Grech studied philosophy at St Mark's

Priory, Rabat, Malta, and theology in St Monica's College, Rome. He

graduated Doctor of Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome

(1953), obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical

Biblical Institute, Rome (1954), and a Diploma in Educational Psychology

from Fribourg, Switzerland (1951). Fr. Grech conducted research in

Semitic languages at the universities of Oxford (1957-1958)

and Cambridge (1958 - 1959).

In 1959, Father Grech was appointed

lecturer at the Augustinian Theological College, Rabat. He also served as

secretary at the Vatican Vicariate and professor at the Augustinianum,

Rome.

In Rome one of his earliest duties included dressing Pope John XXIII and

Paul VI for liturgical functions. In 1970, together with Fr. Agostino Trapè

OSA, Fr Grech founded the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum

attached to the Lateran University in Rome and served as its president

between 1971 and 1979. Grech lectured for over thirty years at

the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome on hermeneutics. He was professor

of Biblical Theology at the Lateran University in Rome, Counsellor to

the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Secretary of the

Maltese Augustinian province. He has lectured at the Accademia dei

Lincei in Rome and at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche and

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collaborated with the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani. On 13 December

2011, he was appointed Companion of the National Order of Merit of the

Republic of Malta. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI announced on 6th January

2012, that he would create Father Grech a cardinal, together with 21

others, on 18th February 2012. He is the first Augustinian cardinal after

111 years. As canon law requires for cardinals-designate, Grech received

episcopal consecration on 8th February 2012 from Archbishop Pail

Cremona OP, Archbishop of Malta, and was assisted by Archbishop

Giuseppe Versaldi, another cardinal designate, and Mgr Mario Grech,

Bishop of Gozo. Present at the ceremony were President George Abela of

Malta; the Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi. The Prior General Robert

F. Prevost OSA was also present.

Grech assumed the episcopal motto In te Domine speravi. On 9th

February, he led the mass of the eve of the Feast of the Shipwreck of St

Paul, in the Church of St Paul, Valletta.

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21st Annual

Saint Augustine Lecture 2018

Augustinian Institute

Centre for Augustinian & Patristic Studies

Pietà - Malta

The Augustinian Institute

The Faculty of Theology of the

University of Malta

and the

Archdiocesan Foundation for

Theological Studies

cordially invite you to for

the 21st

edition of

The Annual Saint Augustine Lecture

Guest Lecturer: Prof Dr Dr Theodor Dieter

The presence of Augustine of Hippo's thought in Martin Luther's Heidelberg Disputation (1518)

on Tuesday 5th

December 2017 at 19.00hrs

GateWay Hall E Lecture Hall, University of Malta

Revd Professor Hector Scerri will chair the event.

Prof. Dieter will deliver a public lecture at the Augustinian Institute - Pieta'

on Wednesday 6th

December 2017 at 18.15hrs

Revd Professor Salvino Caruana OSA will chair the event

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Professor Theodor Dieter is most famous for his insights into the intellectual profile of the young Luther, for which Aristotle and scholastic philosophy played an important role. He is the main architect of almost all Lutheran-Catholic dialogue texts of the past twenty years. He is research professor and head of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg.

In a lot of places in our world today armed conflicts are taking place in which religious polemics play a role. The secular opinion

often considers violence to be inherent to religious difference and believes that promoting further secularization and taking distance from religious thought are the only solutions. Religions, however, also dispose of an important and unique potential. They are able to foster dialogue between opponents, reconciliation beyond religious difference, and healing of historical wounds. In the year when Europe commemorates the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation in 1517 it makes sense to reflect both on the wars of religion that once profoundly devastated Europe and on the ways that have been found and still are found to arrive at reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. In the 16

th century, according to the law of the German Empire, Lutheran,

Reformed and Roman Catholic temporal authorities persecuted Christians who refused to baptize infants and who “re-baptized” adults who had been baptized as infants. Theologians justified such actions against the so-called “Anabaptists” and even encouraged them. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession contains five condemnations against these Anabaptists. The wounds of this religiously motivated violence have created much pain that has endured until the present day. They have posed a major obstacle in the way of improved relationships between Lutherans and Mennonites, the latter of whom see themselves as the spiritual heirs of the Anabaptists. The Lutheran World Federation and the Mennonite World Conference established a study group investigating the relations between Lutherans and Anabaptists in the 16

th century. For the first time, this history was jointly written by

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Anabaptist and Lutheran historians and theologians, entitled “Healing Memories – Reconciling in Christ.” The detailed description of that painful and guilt-ridden history called for a response from the Lutheran side. After serious reflections and discussions within the worldwide Lutheran communion, it was decided to publicly confess the harm, pain, and injustice that Lutheran authorities and theologians had done to Anabaptists in the past and to ask the Mennonites for forgiveness. This happened at the Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation 2010 in Stuttgart (Germany). The Mennonites responded by granting full forgiveness to the Lutheran community, a moving experience for all present. Subsequently this reconciliation was celebrated in a service in the presence of top representatives of many Christian churches. Since then it has been regarded as a model for reconciliation by many theologians. The 500

th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, too, is the challenge to

address a conflicted history ecumenically. The International Lutheran/Roman Catholic Commission on Unity studied the problems of a joint commemoration and presented a proposal entitled “From Conflict to Communion.” It includes both an element of thanksgiving for what the church universal received through the Reformation, and an element of confession and repentance for the division of the Western church. This document was the basis for the historic Catholic/Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation led by Pope Francis and the President of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Younan, on October 31, 2016, in Lund (Sweden). In both cases, historical and theological research, ecumenical dialogues, and the commitment to Christian unity have made steps toward reconciliation possible and allowed for the overcoming of conflicts of the past and openness to a new future.

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