Manager: Professor Marie-Hélène ROBERT
Disciplines involved: Theology, Philosophy, Religious Sciences, Anthropology, History
Topic and goals
The research group focuses on current issues relating to the nature of the religious phenomenon, in terms of its processes of formation and expression, transmission and transformation. The centre’s overarching research theme has enabled the establishment of a joint interdisciplinary research project aimed at developing a fresh perspective on a phenomenon undergoing profound change: that of transmission.
The research group chose to address an important issue, which is currently seen as being in crisis: that of knowledge transfer, which formed the focus of the group’s flagship project.
Flagship project for 2025-2030: Routes of transmission
This transmission will be examined primarily within the fields of theology and religious studies, drawing on history, anthropology and philosophy. The aim will be to assess what is at stake today in personal, family and community practices of transmitting the faith, as well as in the context of new means of communication. This will lead to an examination of the dynamics of individuation and networking that underpin them, in particular:
- Transmission through the community: transmission takes place through integration into the community, which leads to the sharing of ways of believing – whether or not they are formalised by the institution – such as traditions, rituals, pastoral activities, expressions of ‘popular piety’ and charitable practices.
- Transmission through testimony: it does not refer directly to a dogma but, first and foremost, to a personal experience. What is the primary aim of testimony? Is it to draw the listener into the same experience, or into a similar one? It is a matter of conveying the words of an experience that the listener will, in turn, ‘inhabit’ in their own way.
This research should make it possible to propose not only an analysis, but also ways of transforming and supporting the transmission of faith, first and foremost within the Church, but also throughout Western society as a whole.
Keywords: Transmission; communication; community; testimony; the Catholic Church; society
UCLy’s Faculty of Theology combines state-of-the-art teaching in Catholic theology with practical training that responds to the realities of the Church and society.
The Faculty of Philosophy at UCLy brings together a canonical Faculty of Philosophy and UNIVA (Université Vie Active), creating a unique environment that combines academic teaching, research and lifelong learning.