SPEAKERS

Jean-Marc Cardinal Aveline 

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Algeria in 1958, Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of the diocese of Marseille, was ordained priest in 1984. He was a founder and the first director of the Institut de sciences et de théologie des religionsin Marseille, then of the Institut Catholique de la Méditerranée. In 2001 he defended a noteworthy theological thesis entitled L’enjeu christologique en théologie des religions. Le débat Tillich – Troeltsch (éditions du Cerf, collection ‘Cogitatio fidei, Paris, 2003). He was created cardinal in 2022. 

 

Prof Mark Chapman

 BIOGRAPHY:

Mark Chapman is Professor of the History of Modern Theology in the University of Oxford and Distinguished Fellow of Ripon College Cuddesdon. He has written widely on many aspects of theology and church history, with a focus on Anglicanism, Ecumenism and modern German theology. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn and was given the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2024. He is an Anglican priest and Canon Theologian of Truro Cathedral.

 

Dr Eugene Duffy

 BIOGRAPHY:

Eugene Duffy, is emeritus lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick and currently Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Renewal and Development in the  Diocese of Achonry Ireland. He is a member and former co-moderator of the Peter and Paul Seminar and former President of the Irish Theological Association. His areas of research are ecclesiology and pastoral studies, with a particular focus on ecclesial renewal. His publications include  Catholic Schools in Ireland: Responsibility, Oversight and Governance (2024), The Restructuring of Irish Dioceses (2023), Parishes in Transition (2011) .

 

 

Msgr Prof. Tomáš Halík

BIOGRAPHY

Tomáš Halík was born in 1948 in Prague. He is professor at Charles University, Prague, president of the Czech Christian Academy, and vice-president of the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. Prof Halík studied sociology, philosophy, and psychology, graduating with a PhD from the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University, Prague and with a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome. 

Clandestinely ordained a Catholic priest in Erfurt in 1978, he worked in the “underground Church”. Halík closely cooperated with the country’s future president, Václav Havel. 

Since the fall of the Communist regime, he has lectured at universities on six continents, and holds honorary doctorates in theology from the universities of Erfurt and Oxford. Pope John Paul II appointed him advisor to the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-Believers (1990); Benedict XVI named him Honorary Pontifical Prelate (2008).  

He has received several prestigious awards including the Templeton Prize (2014), and his books have been published in 19 languages and have received a number of awards. 

Dr Barbara Haslbeck

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1972, Barbara Haslbeck is a theologian with a particular interest in pastoral theology. She works in the training of church employees in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Her research focuses on the topics of spiritual abuse, spirituality after abuse, and sexual abuse among Catholic women religious. She is a member of the research group on “hidden patterns of abuse” (missbrauchsmuster.de) at the University of Regensburg.  

 

Prof Dr Paulo Rodrigues

BIOGRAPHY

The theologian and ethicist Paulo Rodrigues first obtained bachelor’s degrees in engineering (1991-1996) from the University of Porto (Portugal), in Theology (2001-2006) from the Portuguese Catholic University, and a Canonical Licentiate degree in Systematic Theology (2008-2010) from the Pontifical University of Salamanca (Spain). He also obtained the advanced degrees of Master in Higher Education (2015-2016) from the University of Louvain (Belgium) and of Master of Bioethics (2016-2017) from the University of Leuven (Belgium). He has a PhD in Theology (2015) from the University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium) and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Leuven (KUL, Belgium). He is currently Dean of the Faculty of Theology in Lille (France) where he teaches theology, ethics, and humanities. 

 

Dr Franziska Schnoor 

 BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Germany in 1977, Franziska Schnoor studied Medieval Latin Philology, Musicology and German Language and Literature at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau. In 2017 she gained a Doctorate in Medieval and Modern Latin Philology from the University of Göttingen. Since 2010 she has been an academic assistant at the Abbey Library of St Gall, where she is currently Deputy Head of Research. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2206-4791  

 

 

Prof Janet Martin Soskice

BIOGRAPHY: 

Janet Soskice is Emeritus Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Cambridge. She is currently the William K. Warren Distinguished Research Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke University Divinity School. Her most recent book is Naming God: addressing the Divine in theology, philosophy and Scripture (Cambridge University Press, 2024). 

Professor Soskice is a past President of both the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and the Society for the Study of Theology. She has been a visiting professor in Canada, Sweden, and the United States and in 1997 was a McCarthy Visiting Professor at the Gregorian University in Rome.

Msgr Paul Tighe

 BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Dublin in 1958, Msgr Tighe grew up in Navan and Sligo. He graduated from University College Dublin in 1979 with a degree in Civil Law. After preparing for the priesthood at Holy Cross College in Dublin and the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1983.

His first assignment was as a parish chaplain and teacher in Ballyfermot. Subsequently, he studied Moral Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and in 1990, he was appointed a Lecturer in Moral Theology at the Mater Dei Institute of Education and Holy Cross College in Dublin. In 2000, he became the head of the Theology Department.

In 2004, he was appointed Director of the Communications Office of the Archdiocese of Dublin. The following year, he established the Office for Public Affairs to promote the Diocese’s engagement with public institutions and civil society.

In November 2007, Pope Benedict XVI announced his appointment as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. On December 19, 2015, he was appointed by Pope Francis as the titular Bishop of Drivasto and Additional Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

On October 28, 2017, Pope Francis appointed His Excellency Monsignor Paul Tighe as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

 

 

Dr Antonina Wozna

 BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Poland in 1984 and resident for twenty years in Spain, Atonina Wozna holds a doctorate in Fundamental Theology in the Antonianum University in Rome and a doctorate in Arts and Humanities from the University of Murcia, Spain. Her thesis was entitled Nemesis as a concept of justice in the writings of Mary Daly. Dialogue with the justice of representation and the justice of care.She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in gender studies at the Faculty of Fundamental Theology in Graz, Austria, and is a member of the editorial board of the journal Concilium, of the Association of Spanish Theologians (ATE) and of the European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR). Her main lines of research are ethics and theological hermeneutics. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8220-9454 

 

Updated 31/1/2025