International conference traces history of Canons Regular in Church

By Vatican News staff writer

The Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences will host an international conference, from 24 -26 November, themed: “Secundum Evangelium Christi et vitam apostolicam. The Canons Regular from the Middle Ages to the present day.”

Scheduled to hold at the Instituto Maria Santissima Bambina in Rome, the Conference aims to offer a comprehensive historiographic overview of the vast and diversified Canonical Movement, in the context of the 9th centenary celebration of the Abbey of Prémontré (1122 – 2022), an important center of the canonical charism, and the motherhouse of the Premonstratensian Order.

The conference will present the rich cultural and spiritual heritage created by the numerous Congregations of Canons Regular at the service of the People of God – from the origins of the canonical charism, through the constitution of a specific identity within the Church, illustrating the implementation of this specific project of apostolic life. It will also offer an outline of canonical life in the second millennium, focusing on some prominent Canons Regular through the centuries.

The event, divided into six sessions, will bring together academics from universities around the world, and international experts renowned for their research in the history of the Church, particularly Canons Regular.

The international conference will be opened by speeches from Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Fr. Bernard Ardura, President of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, and Fr. Jozef Wouters, Abbot of Prémontré and Abbot General of the Premonstratensian Canons Regular. Other speakers will include Abbot Rev. Jean-Michel Girard, Abbot Primate of the Confederation of Canons Regular of St. Augustine, and Prof. Dr. Gert Melville, Member of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences and founder of the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders at the University of Dresden.