It has become a tradition that our doctoral team, led by Klára Csiszár, meets every six months for two days for a so-called doctoral colloquium, where we present the current stage of our doctoral work, where we are with our research, what joys and difficulties we have experienced in the past six months and what plans we have for the next six months. The winter meetings will be held in Cluj-Napoca, but the summer meetings will be held in different locations in order to give us an insight into the reality of other local churches during a colloquium and to make the work of our doctoral school known to other local churches. This time, the summer colloquium was held in Belgrade from 2 to 4 July, at the invitation of Archbishop László German of Belgrade, and with the hospitality of the Archdiocese of Belgrade. Eight of us attended this year’s colloquium, accompanied by our senior teacher.
The colloquium sessions took place in the morning, with each participant presenting the current phase of their research, followed by a longer discussion on the research aspects raised. The sessions were very intense, but also very interesting, as the diversity of topics made our discussions a real laboratory of topical theology. In addition to the content of the dissertations, it was very useful to gain an insight into each other’s working methods and personal difficulties in organising work, which made our theological workshop a real motivation for all of us.
Sightseeing tour with Archbishop
Group photo on the Kalamegdan
Doctoral students at the Cathedral of St. Sava
The afternoon of the Colloquium Days was an opportunity to learn about the history of the Archdiocese of Belgrade, its current challenges, the characteristics of the Serbian capital, the presence of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the development of ecumenical relations, led by Archbishop László German. One of the highlights of the meeting was a standing reception in the Archdiocesan garden, where we had the opportunity to meet the Vice-President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Francesco Savino, who was also hosted by the Archdiocese with an Italian delegation, and the Apostolic Nuncio of Serbia, Archbishop Santo Rocco Gangemi.
Group photo with the nuncio and the Italian delegation
The next colloquium will take place in Cluj Napoca in the first semester of the academic year 2023/24.
Bertalan Tímea
