Rome (Italy). On 6 March 2026, to celebrate the 39th Faculty Day and in the run-up to International Women’s Day (March 8), the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium” in Rome is proposing the international study conference “Sister-Brother Relationships in Some Religions of the Sacred Book. Paths and Perspectives.”
The reflection on the theme is entrusted to three scholars: Elena Lea Bartolini De Angeli, a scholar of Judaism; Marinella Perroni, a scholar of Christianity; and Meryem Akabouch, a scholar of Islam.
The program includes an opening address from the Principal, Sister Piera Silvia Ruffinatto, and an introduction to the proceedings by Sister Marcella Farina, Coordinator of the Women & Education Study Center.
The word will then be given to Professor Brigida Angeloni, Professor of Adult Education and Social Pedagogy at the Faculty, who will moderate the round table discussion.
Elena Lea Bartolini De Angeli – A tenured professor of Judaism and Jewish Hermeneutics at the ISSR in Milan, which is part of the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy, a professor of Biblical Culture at ULPAN (School of Jewish Language and Culture) in Milan, and a visiting professor at several Italian universities, who will speak on “Sisters and Brothers: A Relationship Between Responsibility and Constructive Litigiousness.”
“Among you, however, it is not so…” is the title of the discourse by Marinella Perroni, Professor Emerita of New Testament at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm and Guest Professor at the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum in Rome, who founded the Coordination of Italian Theologians (CTI), of which she was also President, and who, with Stella Morra, directs the “Sui generis” series for Effatà Editrice.
Meryem Akabouch – A researcher at the Luiss Mediterranean Platform specializing in political philosophy, international relations, and development, with a particular focus on the Arab world and the Mediterranean region, will speak on “Sister-brother relations from an Islamic perspective.”
The afternoon study is part of a specific research path started on 8 March 2022, with the international Conference: “Woman-male relationships in some religions of the Holy Book. Paths and perspectives in the polyhedron of anthropologies”, and then continued with “Mother-daughter-son relationships” (2024) and “Father-daughter-son relationships” (2025).
The goal was to launch a journey of reflection and study on human relationality, considered an urgent and emergency need for fully human coexistence in the current epochal transformation. One belief is that female-male relationships constitute the fundamental paradigm that gives meaning and direction to other relationships open to constructive reciprocity, for a society more attentive to the common good and the life of each individual.
From this perspective, the “Auxilium” Faculty has decided to delve deeper into the topic, also exploring the contribution of religions, as they can offer their valuable contribution “starting from the recognition of the value of every human person as a creature called to be a son or daughter of God” (Fratelli tutti n. 271). Indeed, “without an openness to the Father of all, there can be no solid and stable reasons for the call to fraternity” (Fratelli tutti n. 272); “reason alone is capable of grasping the equality of human beings and establishing civic coexistence among them, but it cannot establish fraternity” (Caritas in Veritate n. 261).
The Conference of 6 March 2026, although limited, presents a broad range of exploration that opens up radical questions that cannot be ignored, in collaboration with scholars and those who work in educational and formation contexts.
The study afternoon will take place in the “John Paul II” Aula Magna of the “Auxilium” Faculty from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM and will be streamed live on the Faculty’s YouTube channel.
Parabéns pela iniciativa!