“Women and Spirituality”
International Scientific Conference (online)

Ljubljana
May 25th, 2024

There are many definitions of spirituality. Most commonly, spirituality is understood today as a way of life that enables people to search for and find the content, purpose and meaning of life and answers to the deepest life questions. Such a spiritual life leads to a more integral relationship with oneself, others, creation and transcendence, the absolute, which for believers is God. There are, of course, many ways or paths to this, so we speak of several ways of spirituality. Throughout the history of humanity, it has been realised within different religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, so we know different religious spiritualities. Nowadays, many people separate spirituality from religion, so we speak of so-called secular spirituality. It is practised within the values they profess, in different schools of philosophy, cosmology, psychology, art, etc. There is a third way of spirituality, which has elements of both of these.

Every human being is also a sexual being and is marked by this in all that he or she is and lives, including in his or her spirituality. This does not mean that one lives a better or worse spirituality, that one is more or less spiritual, but that the way one understands and practices spirituality is also influenced by what one is as a woman or a man. In the history of humanity there are many well-known female figures in various fields such as: philosophy, religion, art, culture, science, politics, etc. Many of these figures have already been presented, but it is certainly still right and good to go further in showing how women are connected to spirituality and in what way they are or can be influential in the understanding and realisation of spirituality through their femininity, so that it can fulfil its mission to an even greater and fuller extent.

Program

• University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology
• University of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies
• The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Faculty of Theology

• Ivan Platovnjak ,Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (President)
• Ines Skelac, Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Zagreb, Croatia
• Wojciech Zyzak, Faculty of Theology, The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland
• Erika Prijatelj, Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Hellenic College, USA