Sophia Web Academy starts.

On the weekend 8-9 January 2022, the Sophia Web Academy has begun telematically. As known, the first courses lasts until the beginning of July. To start, this year, two courses are provided: “Culture of unity” and “Dialogic Leadership”. The rector Giuseppe Argiolas welcomed more than 130 participants (about thirty students and about a hundred auditors divided into the two courses). They attended the initial communal classes introducing some disciplines. Giovanni Porrino explained some of the questions arising from the Old Testament: can those ancient pages give answers to the present? Gérard Rossé clarified the meaning of “unity” in the New Testament and the way one should interpret and update Chiara Lubich’s “charisma of unity”. It should be more properly defined as a “charisma at the service of unity”.

Then, some lessons of introduction to several specific academic disciplines were held, especially theology (Declan O’Byrne), political sciences (Daniela Ropelato), philosophy (Marco Martino), economy (Giuseppe Argiolas), social sciences (Cristina Montoya) and human sciences (Sergio Rondinara). Each professor introduced the depth and vastity of his or her own” discipline to students and auditors. They also showed them the passion that one person coming close to a discipline should have.

Then they focused on the history of the Focolare Movement since one should know its adventure to be able to understand what “culture of unity” and “dialogic leadership” stand for. Bennie Callebaut described the story of Chiara Lubich and the focolare with a large fresco. Alberto Lo Presti and Michele Zanzucchi talked about the co-founders respectively Igino Giordani and Pasquale Foresi.

The two courses will give students and auditors the opportunity to create their own critical mindset to “historicize” the culture of unity, namely contextualizing it and evaluating all its elements, understanding their importance and “debate”, namely explain its bases and the elements composing it. At the end of it, they will know a “map” enabling them to orientate in a society tending towards greater cohesion and harmonization but still characterized by continuous quivers of fragmentation.

The courses will be weekly (the course “Culture of Unity”), fortnightly or monthly courses (for the course “Dialogical Leadership”).