HALL:

The panel proposes a reflection starting from a series of experiences in a large prison in Northern Italy over the past four years. Among these, focus will be put on the following: a) an annual workshop on reading literary texts in a framework of philosophical and religious questioning; b) an experience of university-level study of religious sciences in a pluralistic and multi-religious context.

A series of contextual elements and possible theological insights emerging from these experiences will be highlighted: (a) contextual elements - institutional and existential, related to the complex and often, in Italy, dramatic reality of detention; (b) some theological, philosophical and anthropological assumptions (Illich, Latour, De Certeau) on the basis of which the presented experiences were moulded; (c) reflections on the method and place of an extroverted theological reflection; (d) issues linking the practice of exegesis with the type of work with detained persons; and (e) some overall considerations on the renewal of theological practices and institutions.


The panel foresee the possibility of debate between an external panelist and the attending audience.