President of the Pontifical Academy of Theology Delivers Lectures in Poland

Bishop Antonio Staglianò, President of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, delivered a series of lectures at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Poland. His nearly week-long visit featured a rich program of academic, educational, and formative events that highlighted theology as a culture of dialogue in today’s world.
By Monika Stojowska

Dialogue, Peace, and the Mission of Catholic Universities
- It is a great honor and a profound joy for me to bring the greetings of the Pontifical Academy of Theology to this important gathering at the oldest Catholic university in Poland. The theme that brought us touches on many aspects, but the key one concerns the role of Catholic universities in promoting dialogue, building peace, and contributing to diplomacy - said Bishop Staglianò, who visited KUL from October 18 to 22 for a series of lectures and meetings.

One of the main highlights of his visit was the presentation of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Ad theologiam promovendam (“On Promoting Theology”). Bishop Staglianò emphasized that, according to the Holy Father’s teaching, theology cannot remain confined to the domains of philosophy and ethics alone, but must open itself to dialogue with other fields of knowledge — from the natural sciences to economics and law, and from literature to music and the arts.

- The global challenges of our time – from wars and inequalities to the ecological crisis, artificial intelligence, mass migrations, and new forms of loneliness – cannot be addressed through a purely ethical, technocratic, or sectoral approach. Continuing the legacy of Francis, Pope Leo XIV calls us to dialogue - underlined Bishop Staglianò in a lecture entitled Theology of Wisdom as a Path to Building Dialogue and Fostering Peace, delivered to the Faculty of Theology at KUL.

Meeting at the Heschel Center

At the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations of KUL — located on Spokojna Street in Lublin, in a building that during the World War II German occupation served as the Nazi command center for the extermination of Jews under Aktion Reinhardt — Bishop Staglianò met with the Rector of KUL, Rev. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, and members of the university staff.

Rector Kalinowski recalled that October marked the third anniversary of the founding of the Heschel Center, which in that time has carried out numerous significant initiatives, including youth exchanges with the United States, conferences, exhibitions, publications, and film productions. “The Center seeks to build relationships grounded in scholarship, education, culture, and religion,” the Rector emphasized.

During the meeting, Bishop Staglianò also delivered a special lecture entitled Nostra Aetate Sixty Years Later: A Prophetic Covenant for Our Troubled Times, dedicated to the landmark declaration of the Second Vatican Council on the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.

“That conciliar document was not a simple declaration of intent or an exercise in good ecclesiastical diplomacy; it was a silent yet powerful revolution that planted a seed of reconciliation in soil still saturated with the ashes of the Shoah,” Staglianò said. “Nostra Aetate is an existential test for our times,” he added, referring to today’s global crises — wars, resurgent nationalisms, and the erosion of a shared sense of human dignity.

Study Visits and International Cooperation

During his stay in Lublin, Bishop Antonio Staglianò also visited the Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Lublin and its Center for Studies for Inmates, based at the Lublin Remand Centre. He also participated in the sessions of the Catholic Universities Partnership (CUP) — an international network linking Catholic universities in Central and Eastern Europe with those in the United States. The initiative is coordinated by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame (USA).