Portugal: 10 and 11 May, Practical Theology Days on “Called to freedom: on the pretext of April”

The 13th Conference of Practical Theology, which will be held at the Rádio Renascença auditorium, in Lisbon, on 10 and 11 May, will be themed “Called to freedom: on the pretext of April”. The theme of the event has been inspired by the 50th anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution” (25 April 1974 – revolução dos cravos), the people’s revolutionary events triggered by the military coup, which, in Portugal in 1974, overthrew the dictatorship known as Estado Novo (‘New State’) installed by António Salazar in 1933. The overthrowing of the regime by the progressive faction of the Portuguese armed forces marked the start of the country’s democratic transition, which was completed after two years of harsh political fights. As announced by the organisers, to celebrate such anniversary the Conference of Practical Theology will discuss the theme of freedom from a “mainly historical perspective, based on the experience of the different Catholic movements that eventually made an indelible contribution to the process, before and after 25th April, with all the contradictions, tensions and different points of view that necessarily come to the fore when we place them in the context of the Catholic Church in Portugal”. Secondly, the Congress will include “a more far-ranging reflection that will take into account the wider spectrum of religious languages that inhabit the contemporary world, in order to reflect on the way the Catholic world and the other religious traditions inside and outside Christianity think of and experience the concept, in the context of Portuguese democracy and the premise of religious freedom that the Carnation Revolution deepened and developed too”. The event is organised by the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Portugal.
Valentina Bombelli