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The next consultation of the Global Network for Public Theology will be held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná at Curitiba, Brazil (PUCPR), a 2 million inhabitants' city in the southern state of Paraná, at an altitude of nearly 1.000 meters over sea level. It is a fairly pleasant climate with refreshing nights and potentially hot days as well as occasional rain; October is spring in Brazil. There are many beautiful parks in the city. Hotels, restaurants and centres of culture abound and the international airport Afonso Pena (CWB, 18km from the city centre) receives frequent domestic and international flights, the latter mostly via Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. Curitiba was a model city for urbanism and public transport in the 1990s, but is, of course, not free of problems as they exist in most major cities. Trying to overcome inequality, injustice and violence as they become most visible in the poor neighbourhoods is a constant challenge.
PUCPR is a private university run by the Marista educational congregation with about 20.000 students overall in 60 undergraduate and 16 graduate programmes in all fields. Among its strategic, interdisciplinary areas are "the city" and "human rights". The university is one of the best ranked Brazilian private universities with a strong emphasis on research and internationalization. The host of the consultation is the Graduate Programme in Theology which is in collaboration with the Graduate Programmes in Philosophy, Education, Human Rights, Urban Management and Law. Theology is confessionally rooted in the Catholic tradition, but ecumenically open to other confessions and religions (40% of students and 14% of faculty in the Graduate Programme are not Catholic, mainly Protestants and Pentecostals), and seeks to develop theology in a public way, interacting with churches, society at large, and the academy. The Consultation language will be English, as usual, with translation from and into Portuguese where needed.
A call for the formation of sessions of thematic collaboration will be out in early 2021 and a call for individual papers in early 2022.
The first issue in 2022 of the International Journal of Public Theology will be dedicated to Public Theology in Brazil and Latin America, ten years after issue 6/1 (2012) had the same regional focus.
BEM VINDAS E BEM VINDOS - WELCOME!
For concerns pertaining to the GNPT consultation in 2022, please contact Prof. Dr. Jefferson Zeferino, vice-chair: gnpt2022@pucpr.br.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Rudolf von Sinner, Head of the Graduate Programme in Theology and Chair of the Executive Board of the Global Network for Public Theology, rudolf.sinner@pucpr.br.
Prof. Dr. Rudolf von Sinner ▪ Global Network for Public Theology, Chair of the Executive Board