Event
(Strasbourg) “Building Europe together: 50 years of the Holy See to the Council of Europe”. A three-day interdisciplinary colloquium marking 50 years of work by the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to this European institution will take place in Strasbourg (7-9 January 2020) to “explore some aspects of this presence and the contribution of Christians to the collective awareness that brings together the peoples and countries of the continent”, the organisers explain. Opening the event will be CoE Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić and Permanent Observer Mgr. Marco Ganci (pictured). 
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, and theologian Luc Perrin will deliver the opening addresses. In the following days, discussion will focus on various aspects related to the participation of Christians in the building of Europe: from the legal challenges (with a reflection on religious freedom in European legal systems) to the relationship between religion and society in Europe, with a focus on ecumenism. This will be followed by a session on ethical issues (bioethics, new technologies, migrants, financial transparency). The focus will then move to culture; then to “human rights and respect for human dignity”; and finally to “the relationship between faith and politics” from an exegetical, theological and canonical point of view. Speakers will include many theologians from the Catholic Faculty of the University of Strasbourg – where the event will take place -, members of the Council of Europe, and representatives of Vatican institutions.
