At a time when words are increasingly used to conceal rather than reveal, when slogans echo louder than conversations, and noise replaces silence, an encounter between two thoughtful, ethically grounded individuals becomes a rarity—almost a phenomenon. In this dialogue, guided by the hand of academician Nerzuk Ćurak—one of the last bards of Bosnian-Herzegovinian intellectual integrity and peace discourse—we are presented with the portrait of a woman who has not chosen the easiest path, but the one that is right.

Zilka Spahić Šiljak is not merely a feminist. She is a theologian in the deepest sense of the word: one who seeks the divine not in abstraction, but in the faces of the oppressed, in the wounds of the world, in the unspoken voice of the woman, the child, the Other. Her life is a dialogue—with faith, with tradition, with conscience. She does not fight for the future because she understands that the fight belongs to the present. She does not seek the approval of authority, because her work grows from the authority of conscience.

Ćurak, whose intellectual register has always been written in the ink of dialogue, did not choose his interlocutor to conduct an ordinary interview. This conversation is a spiritual geography of two beings who understand that the word can be both prayer and revolution, both comfort and rebellion. Zilka does not speak to please—she speaks because she must. And in that voice, which arises from the depths of experience, education, and self-sacrifice, we hear what many do not dare even to think: that faith and feminism are not mutually exclusive, that justice and Islam do not conflict, and that the female body and soul can no longer be sacrificed on the altar of someone else’s interpretation of God.

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Professor Zilka Spahić Šiljak spoke at the Krister Stendahl Memorial Lecture in the Great Church Hall in the Old Town of Stockhom, November 14, 2024. The Annual lecture was about feminist interfaith approaches in peacebuilding in the Balkans region.

Professor Spahić Šiljak elaborated about the intersection of peace, interreligious encounters, and feminism. She show edhow important it was to mobilize all resources, both secular and religious in order to achieve peace. There can be no peace if religion is excluded. Feminists from different religious backgrounds have been building peace in the Balkan region, together with secular feminists, and their work deserves recognition and appreciation.

What began as grassroots activism in the Balkans, says Zilka Spahić Šiljak, has today been acknowledged as academically relevant programs. And when women engage in peacebuilding from the ground up, without formal theoretical knowledge, they often contribute a unique and valuable perspective rooted in their own experiences. In a complex world, all voices and many different approaches are needed, she argues. Women in conflict situations often use tacit knowledge, drawn from generations of social roles, caregiving, and community leadership, to navigate the complexities of peacebuilding. Even if their strategies are not initially theorized, they can later contribute to or refine the existing theoretical frameworks.

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The theology of women advocated by the Pope relies on gender stereotypes and reinforces such biases. Modern exegesis acknowledges that women, like men, are created in the image of God, yet the Church’s magisterium has not yet embraced this understanding as a basis for granting women the same rights as men. The extent to which stereotypes persist depends on power dynamics, which also applies to the issue of women’s ordination. This issue should not be seen merely as a “women’s” issue, but fundamentally as an ecclesiological one.

This text was read with the permission of the editorial board, from the portal: https://fratellanza.net/rebeka-anic-z…

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Organized by the TPO Foundation from Sarajevo and the Ecumenical Women’s Initiative from Omiš, the first online FER School, “Feminism and Religion,” recognized its 2021/2022 cohort with a certificate ceremony on October 8, 2022, at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Prof. Dr. Zdravko Grebo in Sarajevo. The certificates were presented by Prof. Dr. Sci.Zilka Spahić Šiljak, program director of the TPO Foundation and academic director of the FER School. The graduates—courageous women—critically examined the social realities in which they live, questioning their beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and practices related to human rights and freedoms. They also explored how gender stereotypes shape the lives of both women and men within the family and society. Additionally, the program for the new cycle of the FER School for the winter semester of 2022/2023 was introduced.

We live in a time when serious discussions are being held globally about the validity of feminism as both theory and practice, feminist theology, and gender studies. To many, feminism and religion seem incompatible; feminist theology is viewed as blasphemous, and gender is seen as a “dubious” concept, allegedly concealing dangerous conspiracies aimed at destroying family and tradition. However, lived experiences reveal that feminism, gender, and religion have always been intertwined, influencing almost all areas of private and public life. Feminist and gender theories, theologies, and activism help us recognize these connections and position ourselves in response to the challenges, limitations, and discrimination that arise from neglecting them.

The FER School is dedicated to exploring these intersections. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in five academic modules that examine gender issues through an intersectional lens. The course program for the new cycle, open to participants in the winter semester of 2022/2023, was also presented. This program will provide knowledge and arguments for rethinking and reinterpreting feminism and religion. The FER School is free and designed for those who wish to pursue courses at an academic level. If you are brave enough to challenge your own beliefs, worldviews, and practices and are open to a new perspective, detailed information on how to apply (with three days left to do so) is available at: http://147.116.mytemp.website/

The FER School is organized by the TPO Foundation from Sarajevo in partnership with the Ecumenical Women’s Initiative from Omiš.

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The trend of declining religious affiliation and a slight increase in atheists and non-believers in Croatian society has multiple causes.

Peace activist and theologian Ana Raffai discussed this on the show “Novi dan.”

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https://365.rtvslo.si/arhiv/obzorja-duha/174737441

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