10 March 2019 – 15 March 2019
The course will help you to understand the place of Rome as the foundation of western Christian faith, the importance of the martyrs, and the necessity of ecumenism today. At the end of the course, you will be able to understand the importance of the location and history of Rome in the spread and development of Christianity, the dreadful history of the martyrs, and the hopeful story of ecumenism of the last 100 years. The student will be able to apply the lessons of Christianity’s place in Rome to their own situation and church community.
To Rome Why did Christianity come in Rome; what evidence do we have of the earliest Christians in Rome? How was Christianity sent from Rome to England?
To Death Why are the Christian martyrs important? What difference does the death of the martyrs make to our understanding of Christianity, and the history of the Church, then and now.
Together The growth and imperative of ecumenism today, expressed through discussion and action.
We will visit, among other places, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, San Grigorio in Velabro, the Capitoline Hill, and the Roman Forum, the Basilica San Paolo Fuori le Mura (for the martyrdom of Paul), San Bartolomeo all’Isola, for the martyrs of the twentieth century, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere for the martyrdom of Cecilia, Santa Maria in Trastevere for the refoundation of papal power and the Sant’Egidio Community.