The theme of this year’s IFOCAA will be the Christian roots of Europe on 23 September, 2025.
The International Forum of Catholic Alumni Associations (IFOCAA: ifocaa.org) is a series of conferences and workshops launched by the Hungarian Association of Religious Orders’ Alumni Associations, designed to catalyze Catholic alumni organizations worldwide to engage in open discussion of socially significant issues based on Catholic principles.
This year’s 3rd forum is being held in Sicily in cooperation with the Central European Lawyers Initiative to mark SZITA’s membership of the European Confederation of Catholic Alumni Associations (UNAEC).
It is necessary to emphasize Europe’s Christian roots because, according to a joint statement by the European Christian churches:
„exclusion of any appropriate reference to Christian values in relevant EU texts. This is a clear indication that the importance of the Christian tradition as the „milieu” in which today’s European values were established is being overlooked.”
Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union. Europe, Be Yourself! COMECE, Mar. 2024
According to Saint Pope John Paul II
„Europe cannot deny its Christian heritage, since a great part of its achievements in the fields of law, art, literature and philosophy have been influenced by the evangelical message.”
John Paul II. Address to the Participants in the European Study Congress on the Theme: Towards a European Constitution?. 22 June 2002, The Holy See
Program and details here
The 3rd IFOCAA discussion paper can be downloaded here.