The University of Santo Tomas hosted the Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie (COMIUCAP) World Congress from November 16 to 18, 2022. The Congress was convened via hybrid modality to commemorate the 500th year Jubilee of the Christianization of the Philippines at the Bl. Buenaventura García Paredes, O.P. Building.
With the theme “Faith, Reason, & Dialogue: Listening to Asia”, the three-day conference had the following plenary speakers: Prof. Philippe Capelle-Dumont, Ph.D. (Université catholique de Paris), who discussed “The anthropological question in interreligious dialogue”; Prof. Salomón Lerner Febres, Ph.D. (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), who tackled “Longing for transcendence around the significant connection between faith and reason”; Prof. Benedict Kanakappally, O.C.D., Ph.D. (Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue), who focused on “Asia’s Role in the Evolution of Interreligious Dialogue as a Concept and Practice”; and Prof. Kurian Kachapilly, C.M.I., Ph.D. (Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram Pontifical Athenaeum, India), who highlighted “Fides et Ratio: An Interface of Model and Modal Logic”.
Also serving as key speakers were: Prof. Kai Man Kwan, Ph.D. (Hong Kong Baptist University), who discussed “The Subjective Way of Knowing God: Comparison of Kierkegaard and the Chinese Culture”; Prof. Jānis Tālivaldis Ozoliņš, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame, Australia), who tackled “The Relation between Theology and Philosophy”; Rev. Fr. Hermel Pama, O.P., Ph.D. (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines), who focused on “Paths from Angst to Redemption: Southeast-Asian Root Metaphors and Key Scenarios”; and Prof. Brendan Sweetman, Ph.D. (Rockhurst University, USA), who highlighted “Democracy in Crisis?: Relativism, Public Reason, and the Exclusion of Religion”.
UST Rector Very Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Ph.D., in his welcome remarks, said “We are grateful to COMIUCAP for entrusting to our University the privilege of hosting and organizing this local meeting of philosophers.”
Fr. Ang also highlighted the concept of synodality, or journeying together toward communion, participation, and mission, saying that it is “an opportunity for the entire people of God to discern together how to move forward on the path toward being a more synodal Church in the long term. COMIUCAP was grounded on the Catholic identity and tradition. It is the framework of our discernment toward becoming more relevant and more responsive to the call of the times. Both as an institution and as individual Catholics. Let this three-day conference serve as a vehicle for understanding and unity among diverse people of Asia and the whole world.”
As a network of Catholic Institutions of Higher Education dedicated to teaching and research in the different fields of Philosophy, COMIUCAP was founded in Rome in April 1999. The creation of this network was a direct consequence of the publication of Fides et Ratio, the Encyclical of Saint Pope John Paul II dedicated to Philosophy. It is the Sectorial Group for Philosophy of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU/FIUC).
This year’s COMIUCAP World Congress had the Faculty of Philosophy Dean Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., as the Executive Convenor and Prof. Emeritus Alfredo P. Co, Ph.D., as Executive Convenor. It is the second time it has been hosted in the Philippines. The first was in September 2008, when UST and Ateneo de Manila University served as co-hosts.
