UWr’s 11th International Bible Conference in southern Greater Poland
During the 16-17 of May the eleventh International Biblical Conference took place, organized by the Institute of Classical, Mediterranean and Oriental Studies and the Centre for Ancient Near East and Biblical Tradition in cooperation with the local governments of Ostrów and Odolanów. On the first day, the speakers conferred in Ostrów Wielkopolski at the Forum Synagoga, which is home to the Research Centre for the History and Culture of Jews from Southern Wielkopolska of the University of Wrocław.
The authorities of the University of Wrocław were represented by prof. dr hab. Artur Błażejewski, Vice-Rector for Research and dr Sławomir Torbus, Deputy Director of the Institute of Classical, Mediterranean and Oriental Studies.
The inaugural ceremony was led by the organizer of the periodic biblical conferences, the head of the Centre for Ancient Near East and Biblical Tradition, dr Krzysztof Morta. This ceremonial part of the conference was attended in person by Sebastian Górski, the Deputy Mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski, Mirosław Torzyński, Deputy Governor of the Ostrowski district. Also present were the deputies of the Ostrów Wielkopolski City Council, City Council and Councilors, directors of education and culture units from Ostrów and neighboring cities, representatives of other higher education institutions and scientific associations (OTN, OTG), high school and university students, together with the students of the University of the Third Age, and other persons interested in the subject and the event itself.
Prof. Błażejewski recalled in his speech, that he had conducted archaeological research in the area for 15 years, and he encouraged the youth present to continue their education at the University of Wrocław. The inaugural part was graced by the choir from the Second High School in Ostrów, which has been cooperating with the Institute of Classical, Mediterranean and Oriental Studies for many years under the coordination of dr. Krzysztof Morta. The inaugural lecture, titled Early Christian Demonology. The reasons of development and the main subjects of teaching of the Greek Apologists on the subject of Satan and his angels was delivered by dr hab. Prof. UWr Jacek Zieliński.
During the coffee break prof. Błażejewski toured the synagogue and the room in which the artifacts related to the Jews of Ostrów, found and collected by dr. Morte are kept. The conference was also accompanied by an exhibition of reproductions of the oldest manuscripts of the Library of the University of Wrocław. Łukasz Krzyszczuk, employee of the Manuscripts Department of the Library of the University of Wrocław was happy to provide information about the vast collections of the Library.
Next, all those interested could listen to lectures by speakers who came to the Ostrów-Odolanów conference of the UWr, both from Polish and foreign universities.
The second day the attendees of the conference moved to Odolanów, where in the beautiful interiors of the post-evengalical church, the residents of the city could get acquainted with the latest research devoted to the Bible proper, its translations and reception, as well as biblical apocrypha.
The beginning part of the Odolanów proceedings was attended by the representatives of local authorities, headed by Mayor Marcin Szorski and the Municipality and Odolanów City Council President Robert Szustkiewicz. During the artistic part the attendees had the chance to listen to a performance by two talented students of the Odolanów Music School (2nd level).
This two-city event can be summarized as not only many interesting and inspiring lectures, which provoked discussion, but also great promotion of the University of Wrocław outside of Wrocław. This can be proven by the media response in the local weekly newspaper: https://kurierostrowski.pl/2024/05/17/miedzynarodowa-konferencja-biblijna-w-ostrowie-foto-3/
Łukasz Krzyszczuk
Photos: Gianluca Olcese oraz Michał Walków
Translated by Kacper Piotrowski (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
