PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

Description:

“From the emergence of Islam in the seventh century Christian ascetics, monks and monasteries played a central role in both real and imagined interreligious encounters. Their authority to engage was often linked, for Muslims as well as for Christians, to the perception of monks and their attendant structures as storehouses of right theology and praxis. The tenor of these interactions was shaped by the monks’ self-understanding of their responsibilities to the wider Christian community and methodologies they considered appropriate to their vocation. This seminar will explore these concepts in European monastic texts from the ninth and twelfth centuries as a prelude to a discussion of the Franciscan Regula non bullata (1221) and Regula bullata (1223). These texts mark the first time that a religious rule highlighted the need for, and gave instructions on, foreign evangelization to non-Christians. Situating these instructions within the wider context of Francis’ ascetic theology is the focus of my research at PIMS and this seminar will include preliminary findings and ongoing research questions.”