Last December, the Cambridge Interfaith Programme hosted Tomáš Halík: A Cambridge Conference with the generous support of the Sekyra Foundation.
Lead organiser and Halík specialist Aden Cotterill reflects:
“The event was a resounding success, offering a rare opportunity to critically engage with and celebrate Halík’s work as a theologian, dissident, priest, and interfaith leader.
“Halík opened the conference with an overview of his life and work, setting the stage for a series of keynote addresses by Karen Kilby, Rowan Williams, Alister McGrath, and Charles Taylor. Many attendees remarked that these alone were worth the price of admission. The concluding panel explored the broader applicability of Halík’s contributions, while short papers examined specific aspects of his thought. Plans are underway to publish the conference proceedings in an Open Access journal, so stay tuned.
“For me, though, one of the most striking features of the event was the diversity of those in attendance. Among the roughly 120 participants, there was a broad representation of traditions and denominations, alongside a mix of scholars (from various disciplines), clergy, and members of the public. Likewise, I have never experienced such meaningful scholarly collaboration between scholars from Eastern and Western Europe in Cambridge. Indeed, this aspect of the gathering felt particularly profound, given how Halík’s vocation as a scholar and priest began.
“It is hard to imagine that, under communist oppression, Halík could have foreseen a day when his writings on religion and the church would be the focus of an academic conference at the University of Cambridge. Perhaps, then—to read the signs in the spirit of Halík—this conference might have provided more than a mere format for academic discourse, but indeed served as a small sign of hope in an era of continuing upheaval across Europe and beyond.”
