The Church and the Great Reset

Both our Faith as well as our Reason have all too amply prepared Traditional Catholics for the grotesque imposition of raw, irrational, willful, tyrannical power purporting to deal with the national and international crises of the past two years. The Roman Forum’s Summer Symposia themselves have regularly discussed the long-term causes behind the growth of the variegated global oligarchy that may well have played a major role in actually fabricating these disasters, and most certainly has manipulated and grossly benefited from them.

As our 2019 Gardone program itself clearly indicated, all of Modernity — from its roots in a Medieval Nominalism contemptuous of philosophical and theological thought, to its subsequent “perfection” of the contradictory themes of the total depravity of man on the one hand and the cult of an autonomous natural world, open, scientifically, to a magical transformation of the individual and his environment on the other — has paved the pathway to victory for these faithless and mindless but all too tyrannical oligarchs.

Given the present, imminent, and constantly evolving threat, there could be no doubt that our Twenty-Ninth Annual Summer Symposium, now returned to its true home on the shores of Lake Garda, had to deal with two themes: what it is that the global oligarchy’s “Great Reset” holds in store for us in every aspect of our religious, political, economic, social, and individual lives; and that which the Catholic Church — the only force capable of fully and effectively thwarting its designs — can, must, and, alas, in most cases is not doing militantly enough to defend the cause of Faith, Reason, and the true dignity of man and God’s natural Creation.

Faculty, Clergy, Musicians

Jonathan Arrington (Denver Catholic Biblical School; Lay Division)
Dr. Miguel Ayuso Torres (University of Madrid)
James Bogle, Esq., TD MA Dip Law (Barrister and author of A Heart for Europe)
Clemens Cavallin (Religious Studies, Sweden)
Dr. Danilo Castellano (University of Udine, Emeritus)
Bernard Dumont (Editor, Catholica, France)
Christopher A. Ferrara, J.D. (Thomas More Society; President, ACLA)
Dr. Rudolf Hilfer (University of Stuttgart)
David J. Hughes (Director of Musical Program)
Rev. John Hunwicke (Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham)
James Kalb, Esq. (Author of The Tyranny of Liberalism)
Dr. Peter A. McCullough (Cardiologist, Epidemiologist, Expert on Covid Questions)
Michael J. Matt (Editor, The Remnant)
Sebastian Morello (Essays Editor and Columnist, The European Conservative)
Rev. Dr. Richard Munkelt (Chaplain of the Roman Forum)
Dr. John C. Rao (Chairman, The Roman Forum)
Dr. Thomas Stark (Professor of Philosophy and Politics, Austria)

Liturgy and Music

The Summer Symposium’s music program involves daily mass and vespers. It is important to note that the Roman Forum is just as happy to receive applications from those whose interest is primarily in Church Music as it is from those focused in other areas of Catholic concern. Our music director, Mr. David Hughes, is eager to attract participants with vocal abilities who are willing to commit themselves to daily rehearsals to ensure a better rendition of Gregorian Chant and the polyphonic pieces to be sung.

Accommodation, Setting, and Daily Program

Accommodation and lectures are at the Locanda agli Angeli and the Hotel Villa Sofia in Gardone Sopra, on Lake Garda, in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy. Both hotels, with swimming pools of their own, are only a ten-minute walk from the lakefront, where free, clean beaches with a number of amenities can be found. Meals are taken at the Angeli and at other trattorie several minutes walk away. Holy Mass is in the parish church, also within walking distance. Gardone is within easy traveling distance of the opera season in Verona, Venice, Trent, Brescia, Milan, Ravenna, Pavia, and Padua. The region offers opportunities not only for swimming, but for hiking, biking, boating, and scenic walks as well.

Each day involves two lectures with discussion (morning and pre-dinner), and Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Rite (Tridentine Mass) at noon. Other traditional masses are offered throughout the day. There are no lectures on Sundays. Musical and theatrical entertainments take place in the garden of the Angeli and in the Piazza dei Caduti in the evenings after dinner.

Schedule

Application, Cost, and Payment

First time applicants only must include name, address, telephone number, e-mail, date of birth, occupation, academic degrees attained or pending, and the names and phone numbers of two references. Application should be made as soon as possible as there are only sixty places available.

The full cost of the Gardone program in a double occupancy room is $2,900 (based on an exchange rate between $1.10 – $1.20 to the Euro). This includes tuition, room and board (very ample breakfast and dinner with cocktails, wine, beer, and other beverages at will; all gratuities also), transportation to and from Malpensa Airport in Milan, and a boat excursion on the lake. Single rooms are extra, their price depending upon the room concerned.

A number of full and partial scholarships are available. Preference for scholarships will be given to professors, students, clergy, and seminarians. Nevertheless, anyone who genuinely cannot afford the full tuition and believes himself to be a worthy candidate for assistance may apply. Please consider giving a tax-deductible donation to support the attendance of a speaker, a member of the clergy, a seminarian, or a student.

Send all applications, deposits, payments, and donations either through PayPal or directly to: