Tapahtumat

Suomen patristisen seuran vuosittainen päätapahtuma on Helgingissä järjestettävä Symposium Patristicum Fennicum, jossa kuullaan sekä kotimaisten että ulkomaisten tutkijoiden esitelmiä. Vuoden 2025 symposium järjestettiin Helsingissä kulttuurikeskus Studium Catholicumin Angelicum-salissa torstaina 14.8.2025.

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PRAYER IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Call for Papers

We are pleased to invite proposals for the 12^th Nordic Patristics Meeting on “Prayer in Late Antiquity”, which will be held 20-22 August 2026 at the University of Helsinki (Finland). The meeting aims to explore the theme of prayer in late antiquity, both as a religious practice, the subject and medium of theological thought, and a socio-religious identity marker. We invite contributions, e.g., on the evolving concept and practice of prayer, its theological foundations, its everyday performance, and/or its role in defining religious communities and identities during the transformative period of late antiquity.

At the date of publication of this call, the following keynote speakers have confirmed their attendance: Anni Maria Laato (Åbo/Turku), Barbara Crostini (Uppsala), Maria Munkholt Christensen (Bonn), Harald Buchinger (Regensburg), and Bishop Damaskinos (Olkinuora) of Haapsalu.

We welcome submissions for 20-mins. presentations that address one of the following three broad themes:

1. Theologies of Prayer

How was prayer conceptualised and theorised in Christian, Jewish, and Graeco-Roman thought? How did theologians engage with specific prayers, such as the Lord’s Prayer? And how was prayer shaped by the languages of late antique religions? Possible topics in this section include:

• Theologies and Prayer: The nature of prayer and its theological underpinnings in Christianity, Judaism, and Graeco-Roman thought.
• Functions of prayer, e.g., conversations with God, intercession, or meditation.
• Goals of prayer, such as deification, transcendence, or mystical union.
• Exegetical and doctrinal discussions on prayer found in patristic, rabbinic, and philosophical texts.

2. Practices of Prayer

This section focuses on the tangible and performative aspects of prayer in late antiquity. We encourage contributions that examine:

• How prayer was ritualized and performed across different religious contexts.
• Intentions of prayer and their impact on practices.
• Bodily gestures, posture, and voice in prayer practices.
• The significance of sacred spaces, times, and objects in the performance of prayer.
• The interplay between personal and communal prayer, including liturgical and spontaneous forms of devotion.

3. Prayer in Practice

This theme addresses the lived experience of prayer, highlighting how prayer functioned in shaping social identities, communal boundaries, and spiritual lives. Potential areas of focus include:

• Roles of prayer in monasticism: ascetic practices, and personal spirituality.
• Prayer as a tool for constructing religious identity and negotiating social conflicts.
• The connection between prayer and broader socio-religious changes, such as the decline of sacrifices or the rise of Christian liturgies.
• The impact of prayer on daily life, from silent prayer to public liturgical practices.

We encourage submissions from all interested disciplines, and particularly welcome interdisciplinary approaches that explore prayer as both a theological concept and a lived practice.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words by 15 November 2025, clearly indicating which section or sections of the conference your contribution will primarily address primarily. Include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information.

Please send your abstract to the secretary of the Societas Patristica Fennica, Mr. Tomi Ferm, at sihteeri@suomenpatristinenseura.fi

For any inquiries related to this call for papers, please contact Dr. Harri Huovinen (University of Eastern Finland) at harri.huovinen@uef.fi

The programme committee for the 12^th Nordic Patristics Meeting:

Harri Huovinen (University of Eastern Finland), Tomi Ferm (University of Helsinki), Ella Sahivirta (University of Helsinki), Panagiotis Pavlos (University of Oslo), Katarina Pålsson (Lund University), Florian Wöller (University of Copenhagen)

More information will be updated on the conference website: NPM2026 – 12th Nordic Patristics Meeting in Helsinki

Image: Glass medallion, Rome, 4^th c. CE, Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart, Photo: H. Zwietasch (CC-BY-SA)

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7. Ortodoksisuuden tutkijana -symposiumi: Taivaallisia ja maallisia hierarkioita

Suomen patristinen seura järjestää tänäkin vuonna yhteistyössä Itä-Suomen yliopiston teologian osaston kanssa Ortodoksisuuden tutkijana -symposiumin, joka järjestetään Joensuussa 4.–5.12.2025 Itä-Suomen yliopistolla (Agora, AT101). Pyydämme kaikkia osallistujia ilmoittautumaan verkkolomakkeella 26.11.2025 mennessä kahvituksen järjestämiseksi!

ALUSTAVA OHJELMA

Esitelmäkutsu on nyt sulkeutunut. Lopullinen ohjelma julkaistaan 17.11.2025.

Torstai 4.12.2025

11.50 Symposiumin avaus

I sessio

• 12.00–12.30 Esitelmä I
• 12.30–13.00 Esitelmä II

Lounastauko (omakustanteinen)

II sessio

• 14.00–14.30 Esitelmä III
• 14.30–15.00 Esitelmä IV

Kahvitauko (teologian osasto tarjoaa)

III sessio

• 15.30–16.00 Esitelmä V
• 16.00–16.30 Esitelmä VI

Iltaohjelma

17.00 Ehtoopalvelus, Pyhän Johannes Teologin kirkko (Torikatu 41)

18.15 Illallinen (omakustanteinen)

Perjantai 5.12.2025

IV sessio

• 9.00–9.30 Esitelmä VII
• 9.30–10.00 Esitelmä VIII
• 10.00–10.30 Esitelmä IX

Kahvitauko (omakustanteinen)

V sessio

• 11.00–11.30 Esitelmä X
• 11.30–12.00 Esitelmä XI
• 12.00–12.30 Esitelmä XII

Lounastauko (omakustanteinen)

VI sessio

• 13.30–14.00 Esitelmä XIII
• 14.00–14.30 Esitelmä XIV
• 14.30–15.00 Esitelmä XV

Symposiumin päätös

Aikataulu puhujille:

15.11.2025 abstraktien lähettämisen määräpäivä

17.11.2025 ohjelman julkistaminen

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Teologisten tieteellisten seurojen yhteistyössä järjestämät Teologian ja uskonnontutkimuksenpäivät ovat täällä taas!

Järjestyksessään neljännet Teologian ja uskonnontutkimuksen päivät järjestetään 11.–13.5.2026 Helsingissä. Päivien teemana on Uskonto ja teologia epävarmuuksien aikoina. Työryhmiä voi ehdottaa 15.8.–30.9.2025 välisenä aikana. Call for Papers yksittäisten esitelmien ehdottamiseksi avautuu marraskuussa 2025. Stay tuned!

Lisätietoja https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/konferenssit/teologian-ja-uskonnontutkimuksen-paivat-2026 tai päivien Facebook-sivuilta.

Forskningsdagar i teologi och religion ordnas för fjärde gången den 11–13.5.2026 i Helsingfors. Temat är Religion och teologi i osäkra tider. För dagarna kan man föreslå arbetsgrupper mellan den 15.8. och den 30.9.2025. Call for papers kommer att öppnas senare i höst. Stay tuned!

Mera information https://www.helsinki.fi/sv/konferenser/forskningsdagar-i-teologi-och-religion-2026 och på Facebook.

The Research Conference in Theology and Religion will be held for the fourth time on May 11–13, 2026 in Helsinki! The theme of the conference is Religion and Theology in Times of Uncertainty. Sessions can be proposed for the days between 15.8. and 30.9.2025. Call for papers will be opened later this fall. Stay tuned!

More information https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/research-conference-theology-and-religion-2026 and on Facebook.

Pääpuhujat/Keynote-talare/Keynote speakers

Kristina Stoeckl is professor of sociology at the LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. Her main areas of research are sociology of religion, political sociology, and social and political theory. She is a leading specialist on the global connections and dynamics of far-right Christianity, of Russian Orthodoxy and religion-state relations in Russia. https://www.kristinastoeckl.eu/ 

Tore Johnsen is associate professor at VID Specialized University in Tromsø, Norway. His research interests encompass Sámi Christianity, religiosity, and worldview; lived theology, indigenous theologies, and contextual theologies; public theology and ecotheology; the Norwegianization policy and truth and reconciliation processes in Sápmi and Norway; and decolonization of Scandinavian Lutheran majority theologies, particularly in the context of Norwegian and Nordic 19th-century nationalism. https://www.vid.no/en/employees/tore-johnsen/ 

Elisa Uusimäki is professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University. She is an expert on the literary and cultural history of Judaism in antiquity and she serves as the PI of the ERC project ”An Intersectional Analysis of Ancient Jewish Travel Narratives.” https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/elisa.uusimaki%40cas.au.dk