The colloquium addresses researchers, students, and professionals interested in the dialogue between social history, ethics, and theology about contemporary marriage.

Theme

“Marriage isn’t all that important anymore.” People often say this to convey the sense that marriage’s practical significance, and its normative function within the individual biography, have declined over the past decades. Nonetheless, a vast majority of young adults still holds on both to the ideal and the practice of matrimony. For them, marriage is not perceived as “just a piece of paper” that does not add anything to an existing commitment. It means “more than just being together”. What is it that makes lasting marital commitment such a prestigious, although not necessarily attainable, goal in life?
While family scholars suggest that couples may regard marriage as a powerful symbolic way of elevating their relationships above others, ministers in the Christian congregations have long attested to the longing for a ritual practice that adequately expresses the feelings and expectations of those ready to get married. The Christian tradition does indeed preserve a rich repertoire of symbolic meanings of marriage. These range from a ‘holy estate’, and a manifestation of God’s covenant with humankind, to a sacramental sign of divine loving. But is the emerging symbolic significance that couples attach to marriage, in any way tributary to Christian marital symbolism, or is it a secular derivation from it? Do couples simply long for a consolidation and social recognition of their union or do they have a sense of something more transcendent that might fulfill their deepest aspirations? Taking into consideration the polyvalent nature of symbols, the colloquium invites scholars and practitioners alike to explore the sacred and secular symbols of contemporary marriage and to confront it with the religious traditions.

Information & Registration

No participation fee.

The language of the colloquium is English. No translation will be provided.

Venue:

Catholic University Leuven
Heilige Geestcollege (Holy Spirit College)
Naamsestraat 40
3000 Leuven
Belgium

The Holy Spirit College in the centre of the city is situated at an acceptable walking distance from the train station (max. 2 km); all buses in and around Leuven stop at the train station and pass through the city centre.

Registration required before 15 February 2009 at:

INTAMS Chair for the Study of Marriage & Spirituality
Faculty of Theology
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
seminar@intams.org
Tel. +32 2 3599202
www.intams.org

Participants are required to take care of their own travel arrangements, accommodation and meals.

Links to:
Brussels International Airport (Zaventem)
Brussels South Airport (Charleroi)
Thalys / Eurostar / TGV (international trains to Brussels)
Transportation to and from Leuven
Hotels in Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven