We recently received details about the Roman Forum’s 2008 annual summer symposium in Gardone Riviera, Italy. It will take place June 26th to July 7th. I have the distinct pleasure of saying that I will be able to attend this year for the first time.

These Ruins are Inhabited
Catholic Emergence From the Rubble of Two
“Iron Ages” (The Tenth and Twentieth Centuries)

The great Catholic civilization of the High Middle Ages arose from initiatives developed in the Tenth Century. This was popularly known as an “Age of Iron” and filled with tales of ecclesiastical collapse and social confusion. Can a new Catholic civilization arise from the ideological and social rubble left by the Twentieth Century’s Iron Age? What signs of hope and warning bells must we Twenty-First Century Catholics heed in attempting to “restore all things in Christ”? What does the example of the Tenth Century teach us in our efforts to rebuild Christendom? These are the questions to be addressed by our expanded, European-American faculty in the 2008 Summer Symposium, in a program dedicated to Pope Benedict XVI and offered in gratitude for his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. Why not join us for ten days of living, learning and praying in a microcosm of traditional Christendom.

Among others, there will be talks given by the following faculty, clergy, and musicians:

Dr. Miguel Ayuso-Torres •
(Professor of Constitutional Law, Madrid)

Msgr. Dr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula•
(Human Life International, Rome)

Donald Cherry•
(Music Program)

Rev. Bernard Danber, OSA•
(Lecturer for Eastern Church Art)

Christopher A. Ferrara, Esq.•
(President, American Catholic Lawyers Assoc.)

David Hughes•
(Music Program)

Michael J. Matt•
(Editor, The Remnant Newspaper)

Rev. Dr. Richard Munkelt•
(Philosphy, Fairfield University)

Taivo Niitvägi•
(TriaLogos Foundation, Estonia)

Dr. John C. Rao•
(Director, Roman Forum; History, St. John’s University)

Rev. Richard Trezza, OFM•
(Lecturer for Gregorian Chant)

Varro Vooglaid•
(TriaLogos Foundation, Estonia)

Plus, the Ensemble LinnaMuusikud•
(Tallinn, Estonia)

For all the details, see here (PDF).