Conference of the ISDCL in Siracusa (Italy), June 22–25, 2026
Titel: Cultural Bridges between Deuterocanonical Literature and the Greco-Roman World
Organisation:
International Society for the study of Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature (ISDCL) and Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose San Metodio, Siracusa
Local organizers: Dionisio Candido
Foto (to follow)
The seventeenth conference of the ISDCL, chaired by Prof. Renate Reif, was held in Siracusa (Italy) from 22 to 25 June 2026. The event was hosted at the Instituto Superiore di Scienze religiose San Metodio, an academic institution belonging to the Archdiocese of Siracusa. Around 25 people attended the conference, mostly members of the ISDCL. As can be seen from the programme, the speakers came from various countries and belonged to various Christian confessions and other religions. The theme of the conference, in keeping with the city of Siracusa – an ancient Greek colony and a crossroads of cultures in the Mediterranean – was: Cultural Bridges between Deuterocanonical Literature and the Greco-Roman World.
The organisation of the conference in Syracuse was coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Dionisio Candido, together with the team from the Istituto San Metodio, led by Dr Mariangela Maresca. During the Business Meeting, Dionisio Candido was elected as the new President of the ISDCL. At the conclusion of the Business Meeting, the outgoing President, Renate Reif, was offered a Festschrift in her honour, entitled Beauty in the Second Temple Period: Essays in Honor of Renate Egger-Wenzel on her 65 Birthday Berlin/Bosto: De Gruyter, 2026). Finally, it was agreed that the next conference will be organised by Prof. Markus Witte in 2028, at Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany).
