Blessed Ramon Llull: the personage and his relationship with Islam

On 18-20 November 2021, the PISAI hosted the international conference “Blessed Ramon Llull: the personage and his relationship with Islam”, jointly organized with the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià (AUSP) and the Scuola Superiore di Studi Medievali e Francescani (SSSMF) of the Pontifical University Antonianum, and with the collaboration of the Diocese of Majorca, the Maioricensis Schola Lullistica and the Aula Lul⋅liana de Barcelona.

The conference began with the screening of the documentary Phantasticus. The song of Ramon, followed by the institutional greetings of Card. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Mgr. Sebastià Taltavull, Bishop of Mallorca, Diego Sarrió Cucarella, M.Afr., President of the PISAI, and Marco Guida, O.F.M., President of the SSSMF. Prof. Marcos Aceituno Donoso brought greetings from Armand Puig i Tàrrech, Rector of the AUSP, to the audience. The inaugural day also saw the presentation of the volume Il beato Raimondo Lullo: il personaggio e il suo rapporto con l’Islam, edited by Prof. Sarrió Cucarella. The lecture by Prof. Gabriel Ramis, Postulator of the cause for the canonization of Blessed Ramon Llull, fittingly concluded the first day of the conference.

The work continued on Friday 19 November with round tables on the philosophical and theological aspects of Llull’s relationship with Islam and on his biography. Top specialists on Llull took part, including Jordi Gayà, Marta Romano, Xavier Calpe, Alexander Fidora, Óscar de la Cruz, Simone Sari, Annemarie Mayer, Sara Muzzi, and Antonio Musarra.

On Saturday 20 November, the session began with a round table on the theme “Llull, a modern among the ancients”. A presentation followed by Leonardo Sileo, O.F.M., Rector of the Pontifical Urban University, of the volume Ramon Llull. Enchridion Theologicum Lullianum, edited by Prof. Gayà. The conference’s concluding remarks were offered by Card. Luis F. Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the President of PISAI, Diego Sarrió Cucarella.

The conference also included moments of conviviality and cultural visits to the neighborhood, with a guided tour of the Church of S. Francesco a Ripa and participation in the Evening Prayer in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.