International symposium held on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the death of St. Jerome “Ignorantia Scripturae, ignorantia Christi est”

On Thursday and Friday, 5 and 6 November 2020, at the UNSA Faculty of Catholic Theology, an international symposium was held on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the death of St. Jerome “Ignorantia Scripturae, ignorantia Christi est”. The symposium, along with the organizers, was made possible by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and it is important to note that the symposium was held in accordance with all epidemiological measures and recommendations of the KS Crisis Staff. The moderator of the symposium was Doz. Dr. Josip Knežević, professor of patrology and Christian science at the Catholic Theological Faculty.
The symposium opened Thursday afternoon. The introductory words were given by the Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Prof. Dr. Darko Tomašević, who greeted all present and pointed out that the topic of the symposium is current and requires a deeper analysis. The selection of lecturers, their academic, professional and human profile is a guarantee that the topics will be covered in a scientifically valid way.
The symposium was opened by a lecture by Doz. Dr. Hrvoje Kalem, professor of fundamental theology at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Sarajevo, entitled “The Word of God that overtakes us, the Bible as the soul of theology.”
Since he could not attend Sarajevo due to the pandemic, Prof. Dr. Ivan Bodrožić, professor at the Department of History of Christian Literature and Christian Science at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Split, gave a video lecture on “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” After these two lectures, an open discussion followed for Scripture and tradition.
The symposium continued on Friday morning and the first lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Sc. Predrag Dragutinović, associate professor at the Department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament at the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade. In a lecture entitled “Lectio divina in Orthodox Tradition and Contemporary Biblical Hermeneutics”, he presented some always current topics and questions about the Holy Scriptures from Orthodox theology.
The lecture on the topic “Using the Holy Scriptures for the Holy and Fruitful Performance of Priestly Service” was given by Assoc. prof. dr. Ivan Čatić, Professor at the Department of New Testament Scripture at the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Đakovo, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek. In his presentation, the professor spoke about the connection between the priesthood and the Holy Scriptures. Since he could not physically attend Sarajevo, he gave the lecture via video link.
The discussion and pause were followed by the last two lectures. Prof. Dr. Mato Zovkić, Professor Emeritus, gave a lecture entitled “Translation of the Holy Scriptures: Pastoral or Theological” in which he commented on traditional and modern translations of the Holy Scriptures.
The last lecture on the relationship between the Holy Scriptures and the pre-council encyclicals “Three great pre-council papal encyclicals” was given by the professor of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the KBF in Sarajevo, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dubravko Turalija.
After the final open discussion, the moderator Doz. Dr. Josip Knežević thanked the lecturers and everyone else for their participation, which ended the symposium.