Events

The Catholic Church has always had to find its footing in a changing media landscape and technological innovation. But what does that history tell us about how the Church approaches artificial intelligence today?

In the public lecture of the UCSIA Summer School Alessandra Vitullo (Sapienza University of Rome) traces more than a century of Catholic engagement with technology, arriving at the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the questions it raises about faith, human dignity, and our automated future.

Free and open to all.

This year, the UCSIA Summer School focuses on the digital transformation of religion and explores how online media are reshaping religious practices, audiences, authority and politics.

Are you a doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher working on this topic? Then be sure to apply for this intensive, fully funded programme of interdisciplinary exchange, mentoring and networking in Antwerp.

The 15th cohort of trainees from the European Leadership Programme has successfully completed their training. The graduation ceremony will feature a speech by Teresa Anjinho, European Ombudsman, who brings a unique perspective from her role as guardian of good governance and transparency within the European institutions.

The European Leadership Programme is an initiative of JESC, the Jesuit European Social Centre. UCSIA is one of its long-standing partners.

In this panel discussion, students from the FUCE Summer School will take the floor. They will share their dreams and concerns about the future of Europe. Lecturer Peter Hanenberg (Universidade Católica Portuguesa) will moderate the discussion.

How does artificial intelligence shape the way we remember and reconstruct the past? Professor Jasna Ćurković Nimac (Catholic University of Croatia) will address this question in a public lecture of the FUCE Summer School.

For more than seventy years, the European project has been animated by the hope of peace. Yet recent years have shown how fragile that hope remains.

The 2026 FUCE Summer School, titled European Humanism in the Making of Peace, invites students and scholars to reflect on how peace can once again become a creative, moral, and cultural project for Europe.

Does your church council or church organization own farmland? Then this networking event is for you. These lands hold more potential than you might think — for local food production, for the community, for the future. Engage in conversation with experts and other church landowners and discover how to manage your land sustainably and with a long-term vision.

These networking days (in Dutch) are organized by De Landgenoten, UCSIA and Ecokerk.

The registration fee is €15 (including lunch and drinks).

An engaging evening on statelessness — an urgent yet often overlooked human rights issue affecting thousands of people across Europe. Keynote speaker Christiana Bukalo, founder of Statefree e.V., will open the evening with a lecture exploring the historical, philosophical and contemporary dimensions of statelessness, followed by a moderated panel debate with experts from academia, civil society and institutional practice.

The programme will be in English.

Does your church council or church organization own farmland? Then this networking event is for you. These lands hold more potential than you might think — for local food production, for the community, for the future. Engage in conversation with experts and other church landowners and discover how to manage your land sustainably and with a long-term vision.

These networking days (in Dutch) are organized by De Landgenoten, UCSIA and Ecokerk.

The registration fee is €15 (including lunch and drinks).

With the introduction of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, immigration detention is once again in the spotlight. In this panel discussion, researchers, legal experts, and field workers will examine the human and legal consequences, as well as alternatives that protect vulnerable groups.

UCSIA is organizing this event in collaboration with MIGLOBA. The discussion will be conducted in English.

Plastic waste is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time — but science can be part of the solution. This panel discussion brings together researchers, industry representatives, and policy experts to explore the potential of chemical recycling of PET plastic, and the opportunities it holds for countries like Tunisia.

The transition to sustainable food systems is necessary, yet it also presents risks for those who are already vulnerable. Professor of Agricultural Economics Erik Mathijs (KU Leuven) proposes a practical assessment tool to help policymakers and researchers systematically map out these issues of social justice.

In the final lecture of the series U-turn: 5 years later, Koert Debeuf (VUB) and Maarten Rabaey (De Morgen) examine how COVID-19 has accelerated geopolitical tensions and information wars.

Koert Debeuf outlines the global rise of tribalism, while Maarten Rabaey discusses the role and vulnerability of the media in a new struggle for power. A sharp look at leadership, truth and a world order in flux.

This double lecture will be held in Dutch. Participation is free, but don't forget to register.

What happens when religion fuels political power? In this webinar, Daniel Nilsson DeHanas (King’s College London) and Marko Veković (University of Belgrade) explore two striking cases of Christian nationalism today: the spiritual memes portraying Donald Trump as a divinely chosen leader on Truth Social, and the close alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state.

The speakers illustrate how religious narratives, symbols, and media shape contemporary populism and national identity.

In the third lecture of the series U-turn: 5 years later, Wouter Schepers (HIVA – KU Leuven) and Nele Vanderhulst (Socius) explore how neighbourhood characteristics and citizen initiatives shape our resilience after the pandemic.

Wouter Schepers focuses on loneliness and caring communities, while Nele Vanderhulst highlights the power of bottom-up civic engagement. A dual perspective on networks that connect and transform.

This double lecture will be held in Dutch. Participation is free, but don’t forget to register.