The Challenges of Babel: Post-Secularism, Pluralism and Democracy | Los desafíos de Babel: Postsecularismo, Pluralismo y Democracia | Les défis de Babel: Post-sécularisme, Pluralisme et Démocratie.
Fifth World Congress of Comiucap • Quinto Congreso Mundial de la Comiucap • Cinquième Congrès Mondiale de la Comiucap • Universidad Santo Tomas, Bogotá, Colombia, 4-9 of July, 2017
[Program] [Book of Abstracts] [Photos] [Report]
After Paris (UNESCO, 2000), Mexico (Universidad Iberoamericana, 2004), Manila (Ateneo de Manila, 2008) and Johannesburg (St Augustine College of South Africa, 2013), the Fifth World Congress and General Assembly of COMIUCAP was held in Bogotá at the Universidad Santo Tomás and in association with the Universidad Javeriana and of the Universidad LaSalle. On occasion of the first centenary since its foundation, the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú was a special Guest of Honor of the Congress and was represented in the event not just by several Faculty Members of the Department of Phylosophy but also by its present Rector. The scope of the Congress was global and aimed, as always, at fostering colaboration and cooperation among Catholic University Institutions of Philosophy active around the world. The majority of the Papers presented were in Spanish, but other official languages of COMIUCAP (English, French, and Portuguese) were also represented in the proceedings. The congress took for granted the existence of a strong relation between pluralism and secularity and, thus, was particularly guided by the desire to analyse and understand the incidence of religious beliefs and practices in the process of political participation required by the rules of contemporary democracy.
Objectives and Thematic Areas of the Congress in Bogotá
In the context of the relations between pluralism and secularism, the Congress aimed at a deeper understanding of the real incidences that religious beliefs can have in the process of political participation proper to contemporary democracies. More specifically, the goals of the Congress were the following: to analyze the contributions of post-secularism in terms of the affirmative inclusion of the different religious identities that partake in the constitution of a public democratic reason and the corresponding debate within the diverse cultural and political scenes of the world; to promote the creation of new intellectual spaces capable of sustaining worldwide discussion and dialogue on the ranges of secularism and post-secularism in the construction of plural and democratic societies; to assess the implications of the current post-secular point of view at the cultural, educational, social, political, economic, legal and religious levels as well as in the process of defining new and more authentic ways for being-human within the local, regional and global reality of today’s world.
Among the thematic areas suggested for the Congress were the following: 1. Universality, Secularism and Post-Secularity; 2. Humanism, Trans-Humanism and Post-Secularity; 3. Multiculturalism and Global Justice; 4. Non-Secular Origin of Legal Concepts; 5. Violence, Religion and Law; 6. Monotheism(s) and Globalization(s); 7. Language, Justice and Argumentation; 8. Globalization and Legal Cosmopolitanism; 9. The Transcultural Dimension of Human Rights; 10. Religion, Secularity/Secularization and Post-Secularization in Europa y Oceania; 11. Religion, Secularity/Secularization and Post-Secularization in América Latina; 12. Religion, Secularity/Secularization and Post-Secularization in the United States and Canada; 13. Religion, Secularity/Secularization and Post-Secularization in Asia and Africa; 14. Sociology and Philosophy of Religion; 15. Science, Philosophy and Religion; 16. Arts, Philosophies, Religions; 17. Philosophy and Crisis: Crisis of Philosophy? 18. Philosophy and Cultures; 19. Religions and Tolerance; 20. Institutional Dimension of Philosophy and Religion; 21. Religion, Philosophy and Politics; 22. Role of Philosophy in Education; 23. Democracy and Cyber-culture; 24. Religion and the Culture of Non-Violence and Peace; 25. Philosophy of Pardon and Reconciliation; 26. Present and Future of the (Catholic) University; 27. Spirituality, Mysticism and Philosophy; 28. Philosophy, Religion and the Body; 29. Religion, Philosophy and Ethical Pluralism; 30. Doctoral Projects by Ph.D. Students.
Committee of Honor of the Congress in Bogotá
Card. Giuseppe Versaldi (Prefetto della Congregazione per l’Educazione Cattolica) • Said León Amaya OP (Provincial de la Prov. de San Luis Bertrán de Colombia) • Franco Imoda (President of AVEPRO) • Juan Ubaldo López Salamanca, OP (Rector General de la Universidad Santo Tomás, Colombia) • Jorge Humberto Peláez Piedrahita, SJ (Rector Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia) • Alberto Prada Sanmiguel, fsc. (Rector Universidad de La Salle, Colombia) • Marcial Rubio (Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Perú) • Philippe Capelle-Dumont (Honorary President of COMIUCAP) .
Organizing Committee of the Congress
João J. Vila-Chã (President of Comiucap) • Rafael Antolínez Camargo (Local Coordinator) • Joseph Agbakoba (Vice-President for Africa) • Janis Ozolins (Vice-President for Asia/Oceania) • Miguel García-Baró (Vice-President for Europe) • Salomón Lerner (Vice-President for Latin-America) • Brendan Sweetman (Vice-President for North America) • Luis Francisco Sastoque Poveda (Dean of Philosophy and Theology at UST) • Martha Jeaneth Patiño Barragán (Dean of Philosophy and Letters at UST) • Félix Hernando Barreto Junca (Dean of School of Education at UST) • Diego A. Pineda (Dean of Philosophy at Universidad Javeriana) • Hernando Arturo Estévez Cuervo (Dean of Philosophy and Humanities at Universidad de La Salle) • Alberto René Ramírez (Universidad Santo Tomás). Here the Executive Committee in Bogotá: Rafael Antolínez Camargo (Universidad de Santo Tomas, Coordinator) • Alexander Zamora Velandia (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Angel María Sopó (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Edgar Gustavo Eslava Castañeda (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Eduardo Alberto Gómez Bello (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Edward Andrés Quitián Alvarez (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Hernán Ferney Rodríguez García (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Luis Alfonso Flórez (Universidad Javeriana) • Miguel Moreno Lugo (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Myriam Patricia R. Galvis ((Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Omar Esteban Barbosa Martínez (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Rossy Esperanza Machado (Univ. de Santo Tomas) • Ruby Buitrago Barbosa (Univ. de Santo Tomas).
Scientific Board of the Fifth World Congress of COMIUCAP
Adela Cortina (Universidad de Valencia, Spain) • Adriano Fabris (Università di Pisa, Italy) • Alfredo Co (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines) • Brendan Sweetman (Rockhurst University, USA) • Carla Canullo (Università di Macerata) • Camille Riquier (Institut Catholique de Paris, France) • Carlos Morujão (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal) • Charles Taylor (McGill University, Canada) • Christine Wanjiru Gichure (Stratmore University, Kenya) • Corina Yoris Villasana (Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela) • Danilo Vaz-Curado (Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Brasil) • Diego A. Pineda (Universidad Javeriana) • Eleonore Stump (Saint Louis University, USA) • Emmanuel Falque (Institut Catholique de Paris) • Felipe Arocena Armas (Universidad de la República, Uruguay) • Francesco Botturi (Università Cattolica di Milano, Italy) • Francisco Galán (Universidad Ibero-Americana, Mexico) • Germán Bula (Universidad de La Salle, Colombia) • Hans Joas (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany) • Hector Leonardo Tovar González (Universidad de Santo Tomas) • Héctor Samour (Universidad Centro-Americana, El Salvador) • Janis T. Ozolins (Australian Catholic University, Australia) • Jean Greisch (Institut Catholic de Paris, France) • Jeffrey Bloechl (Boston College, USA) • Jorge Aurelio Díaz (Universidad Nacional, Colombia) • José Casanova (Georgetown University, USA) • Joseph Agbakoba (University of Nigeria) • Josephat Obi Oguejiofor (Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria) • Juan Carlos Scannone (Facultades San Miguel, Argentina) • Marcelo Perine (Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Brasil) • Markus Enders (Universität Freiburg, Germany) • Massimo Marassi (Università Cattolica di Milano, Italy) • Mauricio Beuchot (Universidad Autonoma, Mexico) • Michael Barber (Saint Louis University, USA) • Miguel García-Baró (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain) • Miguel Giusti (Universidad Católica del Perú, Perú) • Nathanaël Yaovi Soede (Institut Catholique Missionnaire d’Abidjan, Ivory Coast) • Néstor Angel Corona (Universidad Católica Argentina, Argentina) • Noboru Kinoshita (Nanzan University, Japan) • Noel Sheth (St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India) • Paul Dumouchel (Ritsumeikan University, Japan) • Peter Jonkers (Tilburg University, Netherlands) • Philippe Capelle (Institut Catholique de Paris, France) • Piotr Jaroszynski (Catholic University of Lublin, Poland) • Raúl Fornet Betancourt (Universität Aachen, Germany) • Ricardo Pinilla (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain) • Richard Kearney (Boston College, USA) • S.E. Thomas Menamparampil (Archdiocese of Guwahati, India) • Salomón Lerner Febres (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Perú) • Tomas Halik (Charles University, Czech Republic) • Vicente Durán (Universidad Javeriana, Colombia) • William Desmond (K. U. Leuven, Belgium & Villanova University, USA) • William Sweet (St Francis Xavier University, Canada).
The Keynote Speakers at the Congress in Bogotá were:
Card. Dom Cláudio Hummes OFM (São Paulo, Brasil) • Carla Canullo (Università di Macerata, Italia) • Gerardo Remolina Vargas (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia) • Ike Odimegwu (Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria) • Jorge Aurelio Díaz (Universidad Nacional, Colombia) • Leonardo Tovar Gonzalez (Universidad Santo Tomás, Colombia) • Miguel Giusti (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Perú) • Raúl Fornet-Betancourt (Universität Aachen, Germany) • Thomas Menamparampil (India) • Vicente Durán Casas (Universidad Javeriana, Colombia).
Submission of Papers for Publication
A selection of the Papers presented during the Fifth World Congress of COMIUCAP will be published by the new international Journal of COMIUCAP (PAROUSIA) and as a book by the University of Santo Tomás. Papers can be submited in any of the official languages of the Congress: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. All participants in the Congress are invited to revise and complete their papers so that they might become elegible through a process of peer-review for publication by COMIUCAP. Complete papers are to be sent to COMIUCAP and the University of Santo Tomás before October 15, 2017. For inquiries, please, contact us.
Here the Report of the President and Photos of the entire event. – In Memoriam: Professor Noel Sheth SJ (1943-2017).
Other Congress Materials: Program/Schedule | Book of Abstracts | Poster. Regarding the General Assembly, see: Report of the President | Photos of entire event. – In Memoriam: Professor Noel Sheth SJ (1943-2017).