The partnership between the Monastery of Pedralbes and the Office of Religious Affairs (OAR), which began with the project ‘Women and religions: spirituality as a meeting point’, continues. The second edition of ‘Female figures in religious traditions’ will be held in March (the first took place in July last year). The participants will be from different religious traditions: Catholic Christianity, Judaism and Evangelical Christianity.
The OAR works to raise awareness of the plurality of beliefs and spiritualities that co-exist in the city, and has an in-depth knowledge of the diverse communities, organisations and faiths that make Barcelona a rich, plural city.The Monastery of Pedralbes is a place where women have traditionally experienced spirituality as the focal point of their lives; hence, it has naturally become a meeting point for women who, despite their different cultural backgrounds and diverse beliefs, live their daily lives in a spiritual way.
The two entities joined forces at the beginning of the summer of 2019to promote a project aimed at fostering dialogue between women in order to highlight the female perspective within religious and spiritual traditions, a perspective which is often invisible. The project structure was developed at four earlier meetings which took place behind closed doors, and where women with different beliefs and faiths were able to exchange experiences, expectations and interests. Twenty-five women holding a diversity of beliefs voluntarily attended these meetings, which were coordinated by journalist Txell Bonet. They reflect the Barcelona of today: a city with a plurality of religions, faiths and beliefs. Almost two years have passed since those dialogues between four groups of women took place. The issues that were put on the table at that time needed – and still need – a voice of their own, a female voice, as this is the one that speaks of these shared areas of concern that exist only on the margins of religious and spiritual traditions.
In November of that same year, the round table session ‘Women and religions: spirituality as a meeting point’ took place, with the participants of the previous meetings. Journalist Txell Bonet, moderator of the event, explained that ‘with these meetings a door has been opened’, and highlighted ‘the humility of listening and generosity of giving’ of all the women taking part. She went on to say that the meetings ‘were a testament to giving women a voice and making sure that that voice is heard’. This round table session showed very clearly that the role of spiritual women has often been obscured, receiving little recognition, and sometimes even disappearing altogether.
With the aim of taking the project forward and bringing visibility to a female spirituality that is both important and of great value, the Monastery of Pedralbes and the OAR presented two initiatives in 2020:
- The publication of a summary video of the four meetings, at which topics that are universally important to all of these women were discussed, such as leadership, the social imaginary of the spiritual woman, taking a fresh look at the texts and traditions from a female perspective, female spirituality, care, and the binary opposition between feminism and religion, for example.
- ‘Female Figures in Religious Traditions’ , which took place in July 2020, consisted of three virtual sessions and a guided face-to-face visit to the Monastery of Pedralbes. These sessions followed on from the meetings that took place in 2019 at the Monastery of Pedralbes, where one of the constant themes was the importance of women and the huge contributions that they have made to all religious and spiritual traditions, a fact that has often been rendered invisible or silenced by the social imaginary.
This March, the OAR and the Monastery of Pedralbes is presenting a second series of round table discussions focusing on ‘Female figures within religious traditions’ with the aim of continuing to raise awareness of this rich source of female wisdom, valuing it as it deserves. The speakers will examine these sources of wisdom, highlighting and defining the importance of certain women both historically and in the world of today within their own religious traditions: Catholic Christianity, Judaism and Evangelical Christianity.
There will be three stand-alone online sessions and one free visit to the Monastery of Pedralbes. Those attending the online sessions will be able to enjoy a visit to the Monastery, with advance booking.
Online sessions:
- Tuesday 9 March at 6 pm: ‘Female figures within religious traditions’, with Neus Forcano i Aparicio (professor of language and literature, member of the European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR) and the Alcem la Veu [Speak Out] platform).
- Tuesday 16 March at 6 pm: ‘Female figures in Judaism’, with Débora Malamud (teacher, human rights journalist and member of the progressive Bet Shalom Jewish community).
- Tuesday 26 March at 5 pm (TIME CHANGE): ‘Female figures in Evangelical Christianity’, with Betsy Bankole (Communications Director at the International Church of Barcelona)
Registration and further information:
Pre-registration is required for each of the activities you would like to attend:
ONLINE SESSIONS. To register, send an email to activitatsoar@bcn.cat giving: Your name, surname(s) and email address. Registration will be open until the day before the session. Once you have registered, you will be provided with the corresponding link (on the Google Hangouts Meet platform) together with instructions on the day of the session. It will be a live session and will not be recorded.
FREE VISIT TO THE REIAL MONESTIR DE SANTA MARIA DE PEDRALBES. To take advantage of the free visit, it is essential to book in advance by calling the information and bookings line: 00 +34 932 563 427 (lines open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm), at any time after the day of your attendance at the virtual session.
All the information can be found in the programme attached.
We look forward to seeing you there!
