The Roman Forum 2008 Symposium

2008 Summer Symposium, Gardone Riviera, Italy
June 26th-July 7th (11 nights)
 

• Accommodations and the Setting
• Daily Program
• Topics to Be Addressed
• Faculty, Clergy, and Musicians
• Transportation
• Cost
• Scholarships
• A Note on Benefactors
• Application and Payment

Accommodations and the Setting

Accommodation and lectures for the Gardone program are at the Locanda agli Angeli, on Lake Garda, in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy. Rooms are mostly doubles, with bath. Most of the rooms are air conditioned and those which are not are equipped with fans and very comfortable. A limited number of singles is available. The Locanda is located in Gardone Sopra, a ten minute walk from the lakefront, where free, clean beaches with a number of amenities can be found. The Angeli offers a beautiful swimming pool and garden on its premises. Meals are taken both there and at a trattoria, Da Mario, several minutes walk away. Masses are in the parish church, also within walking distance. Special arrangements, at different prices, can be made for those who wish to stay and take their meals in one of the many other hotels in Gardone or Salò. Arrangements to arrive earlier or stay later, at additional cost, may be made through the Director. Gardone is within easy traveling distance of Verona, Venice, Trent, Brescia, Milan, Ravenna, Pavia and Padua. In years past, participants have rented cars to tour the area, taken private and more extensive boat trips on the lake, attended the opera in Verona, and even ventured as far away as Florence. The region offers opportunities not only for swimming, but for hiking, biking, boating and scenic walks as well. The lectures are scheduled in such a way as to allow time for recreation and sightseeing.
 

Daily Program

The daily program consists of two main lectures on current issues concerning the collapse and restoration of Christendom, an optional late afternoon seminar on the revival begun in the midst of the troubles of the Tenth Century, and a Missa Cantata (or one of several low masses) according to the 1962 missal (the Tridentine Mass). The principal hours will also be sung, and, on one day, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom will be celebrated. There are no lectures on Sundays, when a boat trip on Lake Garda is offered, and on the day of the Venice trip. Evening entertainments, after dinner, will be available.
 

Topics to Be Addressed

This year’s Symposium is an extraordinary one, inspired by both by Pope Benedict’s motu proprio as well as his call for a rediscovery and  reinvigoration of the Catholic character of our civilization. We, like the Holy Father, believe that Catholic revival is essential not just for our spiritual but also our temporal well being. Lecturers dealing with the contemporary crisis will discuss the path to theological, philosophical, liturgical, devotional, educational, political, economic, and cultural revival. Those focusing on the Tenth Century will give precise examples of how our ancestors confronted their own seemingly impossible dilemmas, creating the glories of the Eleventh through Thirteenth Centuries in consequence.
 

These Ruins are Inhabited:

Catholic Emergence From the Rubble of Two “Iron Ages”

(The Tenth and Twentieth Centuries)

The great Catholic civilization of the High Middle Ages arose from initiatives developed in the Tenth Century. This was popularly known as an “Age of Iron” and filled with tales of ecclesiastical collapse and social confusion. Can a new Catholic civilization arise from the ideological and social rubble left by the Twentieth Century’s Iron Age? What signs of hope and warning bells must we Twenty-First Century Catholics heed in attempting to “restore all things in Christ”? What does the example of the Tenth Century teach us in our efforts to rebuild Christendom? These are the questions to be addressed by our expanded, European-American faculty in the 2008 Summer Symposium, in a program dedicated to Pope Benedict XVI and offered in gratitude for his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. Why not join us for ten days of learning and taking counsel together with a “traditionalist parliament”, while living and praying in a microcosm of a Christian polis.

Faculty, Clergy, and Musicians

Dr. Miguel Ayuso-Torres  (Professor of Constitutional Law, Madrid)

Rev. Dr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula (Human Life International, Rome)

Donald Cherry (Music Program)

Rev. Bernard Danber, OSA (Lecturer for Eastern Church Art)

Christopher A. Ferrara, Esq. (President, American Catholic Lawyers Assoc.)

David Hughes (Music Program)

Michael J. Matt (Editor, The Remnant)

Rev. Dr. Richard Munkelt (Philosphy, Fairfield University)

Taivo Niitvägi (TriaLogos Foundation, Estonia)

Dr. John C. Rao (Director, Roman Forum; History, St. John’s University)

Rev. Richard Trezza, OFM (Lecturer for Gregorian Chant)

Varro Vooglaid (TriaLogos Foundation, Estonia)

Plus, the Ensemble LinnaMuusikud (Tallinn, Estonia) and many other speakers from Europe, the United States and Canada to be announced.  Contact the Director for further information.

Transportation

Those interested in a possible reduced rate round trip from New York/Newark to Milan must contact the Director by February 29^th, 2008.

Transportation will be provided from Milan’s Malpensa Airport to Gardone on June 26th and back again on July 7th.

Participants arriving and leaving at different times or arriving at and leaving from different airports are responsible for making their own arrangements for getting to Gardone.
 

Cost

Scholarships

A Note on Benefactors

Application and Payment

The final deadline for application is April 15^th, 2008. Applicants must include name, address, telephone, e-mail, date of birth; occupation, and the names and phone numbers of two references.

Mail all applications and address all questions to:

The Roman Forum
c/o Dr. John C. Rao, Director
II Carmine Street, #2C
New York, NY, 10014-4442
director@romanforum.org