Study in Rome – a unique opportunity
- to study at the Protestant Waldensian Faculty of Theology and at various Pontifical Universities in the heart of Rome.
- to gain experience in the field of ecumenism and to reflect upon them in an international group of Protestant theology students.
- to discover a city in which (church) history is actually present and touchable.
Your studies in Rome will be accompanied by a programme organized by the Centro Melantone which will enable you to reflect and deepen your experiences:
- There will be two ecumenical study trips, one at the beginning and one towards the end of the academic year.
- Two weekend seminars in Rome will focus on specific subjects related to Rome and/or Ecumenism.
- Monthly encounters will take place with Roman Catholic seminarians to discuss ecumenical questions.
- In the Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Rome, scholarship holders can get involved in congregational life and thus gain valuable experience regarding Lutheran reality in Italy.
- The Centro Melantone will organize encounters with interesting communities as well as individual persons from the Roman Catholic world.
- The Theological Study Year in Rome will begin with an Italian language course in September, since courses at the Catholic universities are taught in Italian (even if some universities offer single courses in English, German, Spanish or French, too). In any case, living and studying in Rome make the knowledge of Italian necessary, a profitable stay in Rome will clearly depend on your ability to communicate.
Other activities of the Centro Melantone include the organization of research stays and course offers for (PhD) students, pastors and teachers, as well as academic conferences.
Structural and financial support
In addition to these opportunities, the Centro Melantone will provide you with structural and financial support:
- Central to the scholarship is a full inscription at the Waldensian Faculty of Theology of which the tuition fee is paid by the Centro Melantone.
- A financial subvention will assist with the enrolment fees for the optional courses at the various Pontifical Universities.
- The ecumenical study trips are financed in large part by the Centro Melantone.
- The internal seminars will be financed by the Centro Melantone.
- A subvention is provided for the rental of accommodation in Rome. The
Lutheran Church maintains a student house (at Via Aurelia Antica 391) where most scholarship holders reside for the duration of their stay. For some students, there is also the possibility of living in the Waldensian convict(Convitto valdese) in the company of Waldensian students.
- A subvention will be provided for the Italian language course in September, limiting the cost to €450 per student.