Toward a Theology of Healing

Image: Frans Francken II and Joos de Momper the Younger, Christ Healing a Blind Beggar, 1620-1630, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Creative Commons Zero The Sixth Truth of Love Conference Conference Description Biblical healing narratives bear witness to the fact that God became man to bring salvation. The fragility of the human body and soul, the experience of loneliness, and the deep wound of sin reveal our inability to be self-sufficient and our being directed toward others—and ultimately toward the Other. Through suffering, human beings grow beyond themselves and reach out for “salvation” and “help” (cf. Ps 121:1), which they seek in the encounter with others. These encounters do more than just comfort; they call us to communion. Healing occurs when human beings establish relationships—with their neighbors and, ultimately, with Christ himself. This raises the question of how the Lord draws near to us in our suffering: through his word, the communion of believers, and especially in the Church’s sacraments, through which his healing presence is at work. This conference will explore the following aspects: the experience of human woundedness and the cry for healing, the ways in which healing is offered in encountering Christ, and the paradoxical truth that, as someone called to love, a human person remains “vulnerable” and finds true fulfillment in his or her openness to others. Download Flyer Register Friday, September 4, 2026 I. Human brokenness 2:30 p.m. Opening Remarks : Prof. Dr. Stephen Hildebrand, Provost Franciscan University (Prälatensaal) Main Talks and Dialogue Prof. Dr. Katharina Westerhorstmann: Man in His Loneliness Prof. Dr. Stephan Herzberg: Human Mortality Break Dr. Gabriel Weiten: Sexual Abuse and Perspectives for Healing Short talks Prof. Dr. Maria Wolter Further short talks to follow 6:00 p.m. Vespers 6:30 p.m. Dinner 8:00 p.m. Holy Hour (Kartause Chapel) Saturday, September 5, 2026 II. Healing Encounter 8:00 a.m. Holy Mass with Dr. Alois Schwarz, Bishop of St. Pölten (Kartause Chapel) Main Talks and Dialogue 9:15 a.m. Most Rev. Msgr. Alois Schwarz: The Sacrament of Reconciliation as Sacrament of Healing Dr. Andrzej Kucinski: “I was sick and you took care of me …” (Mt 25,36). Healing Presence as Christian Response to the Mystery of Suffering and Death Break Prof. Dr. Christoph Ritter: The Physician’s Task of Healing from a Christian Perspective Short talks Meghan O’Malley: Experiences of Practical Charity as an Encounter of Healing (Calcutta) (in English) Further short papers to follow 1:00 p.m. Lunch Saturday, September 5, 2026 III. Wounded by Love Main Talks and Dialogue 2:.30 p.m.: P. Prof. Dr. Dominikus Kraschl OFM: Francis and His Wounds – Sources of Healing Prof. Dr. Stephan Kampowski – The “Suffering” of Love in Thomas Aquinas Break Prof. Dr. Hannah Barrett: Wounded by Love in St. John of the Cross (in English) Short Talks 6:00 p.m. Vespers and Conclusion 6:30 p.m. Dinner 8:00 p.m. Reception (Baroque Library) Translation: Unless noted otherwise, talks will be held in German. For these there will be simultaneous translation into English. To listen to it, please bring your own smartphone and headset. Extended program on Sunday: 10:00 a.m. Holy Mass (in English) 11:00 a.m. Optional guided tour of the Kartause Gaming 11:00 a.m. Informal dialogue among speakers and invited guests 1:00 p.m. Lunch Conference Secretariat: Petra Pöchhacker +43 7485 98678 4103 ppoechhacker@franciscan.edu Registration: Early-bird fee (register by August 15, 2026): €50 | After: €70 Registration deadline: September 1, 2026 Meals: To reserve a table at the hotel, contact office@kartause-gaming.at or +43 7485 98 466 Accommodations: Kartause Gaming: Conference Hotel (room and meal reservations to be made exclusively through: office@kartause-gaming.at or +43 7485 98 466) Gasthof Erlauftalerhof (in Kienberg/Gaming) I’m Inn Wieselburg (in Wieselburg, 20 minutes by car from Gaming) Refugium Lunz (in Lunz am See, 15 minutes) “Healing is an essential dimension of the apostolic mission and of Christian faith in general. … When understood at a sufficiently deep level, this expresses the entire content of ‘redemption’. … Whoever truly wishes to heal man must see him in his wholeness and must know that his ultimate healing can only be God’s love.” Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth