On Friday, May 15, an international colloquium was held in the auditorium of Prague’s Jan Neruda Secondary School in Hellichova St. under the title “Fellowship: Medicine For The European Society in Crisis”. The colloquium was organized by Christine Boutin, French Minister of Housing, Cyril Svoboda, Member of the Parliament, and the European Movement in the Czech Republic and financially sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung foundation.

The colloquium followed up on a meeting held under the title “Courage To Do Politics”, held in Paris in October 2008 on the occasion of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Mr. Cyril Svoboda opened the session with a speech on the context of the term “fellowship”. The audience of some 130 people was then welcomed by Mr. Ladislav Říha M.Sc., a representative of the European Movement in the Czech Republic, who expressed his thanks to Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The first round of the colloquium followed, focusing on the theological and philosophic aspects of fellowship. Miloslav Cardinal Vlk then described fellowship as a consequence God’s fatherhood. The subsequent speeches were delivered by representatives of Czech universities  Mireia Ryšková, Jindřich Šrajer and Petr Pokorný. The first block was concluded by Fabrice Hadjadj, French philosopher and writer, who contemplated upon fellowship not only among people but also between people and the nature.

The second round was dedicated to the social and psychological aspects of fellowship. Anna Hogenová and Ludmila Muchová talked about parenting toward fellowship, concluding that fellowship cannot exist without functional families. Psychologists Ludmila Trapková, Josef Zeman and Jaroslav Šturma then analyzed the status of the family and brotherly behavior in our present society.

The third round concentrated on the political aspects of fellowship. Michael Martinek discussed the slogan of the Great French Revolution, Lubomír Mlčoch criticized both Czech political parties and Czech churches, while David Macek put fellowship in a political and cultural context and Christine Boutin talked about fellowship as an inspiration for specific political steps.

After an open discussion, the colloquium was concluded and many participants expressed their desire to acquire the texts of the speeches delivered. A brochure with all the texts will be published with the kind support of the European Movement in the Czech Republic and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.