Our Fall Lectures provide students, faculty, alumni, and local churches an opportunity to engage with some of the finest Evangelical thinkers addressing key matters for the church.
Engaging Roman Catholicism: Understanding Our Commonalities and Differences and Why They Matter
Leonardo will unpack this year’s theme in four lectures:
Why Evangelicals Need to Engage Roman Catholicism
Same Words, Different Meanings: How Roman Catholicism Understands the Christian Faith
From Dei Verbum to Verbum Domini and Beyond: An Evangelical Assessment of Theological Trends in Present-Day Roman Catholic Doctrine of Scripture
Five Principles for Interpreting the Church Fathers
Hear from Leonardo himself to discover more about this event…
Schedule for October 11th & 12th
Friday - Oct. 11, 2025
| 19.00 - 19.30 | Doors Open |
| 19.30 - 19.45 | Introduction |
| 19.45 - 20.45 | Why Evangelicals Need to Engage Roman Catholicism - Dr. Leonardo De Chirico |
| 20.45 - 21.15 | Q & A – Chapel |
| 21.15 - 21.30 | Closing |
Saturday - Oct. 12, 2025
| 09.15 - 09.45 | Doors Open - Coffee and Refreshments - Cafeteria |
| 10.00 | Same Words, Different Meanings: How Roman Catholicism Understands the Christian Faith - Dr. Leonardo De Chirico |
| 11.00 - 11.30 | Q & A - Chapel |
| 11.30 - 12.00 | Break |
| 12.00 - 12.45 | Lunch - Cafeteria |
| 13:00 | From Dei Verbum to Verbum Domini and Beyond: An Evangelical Assessment of Theological Trends in the Present-Day Roman Catholic Doctrine of Scripture - Dr. Leonardo De Chirico |
| 14:00 | Q & A - Chapel |
| 14.30 | Coffee & Refreshments - Cafeteria |
| 15:15 | Five Principles for Interpreting the Church Fathers - Dr. Leonardo De Chirico |
| 16.15 | Q & A - Chapel |
| 17.00 | Closing |
About Leonardo De Chirico
Leonardo De Chirico is the pastor of Breccia di Roma, a church that he helped plant in Rome in 2009. He served as Vice Chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance from 2003-2021 and now serves as chairman for the theological commission of the IEA. Previously, Leonardo planted and pastored an evangelical church in Ferrara, Italy, from 1997 to 2009.
He earned degrees in History (University of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales) and Bioethics (University of Padova). His PhD is from King's College (London); it was published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism. In 2015, he published A Christian Pocket Guide to Papacy and A Christian Pocket Guide to Mary: Mother of God? through Christian Focus.
He is a lecturer of Historical Theology at Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione in Padova, Italy. Additionally, Leonardo is the Director of the Reformanda Initiative, which aims to equip evangelical leaders to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism, and the leader of the Rome Scholars & Leaders Network (RSLN).
This year’s theme of our Fall Lectures is “Engaging Roman Catholicism: Understanding Our Commonalities and Differences and Why They Matter.”
Leonardo will explore this topic through four lectures:
Why Evangelicals Need to Engage Roman Catholicism
Same Words, Different Meanings: How Roman Catholicism Understands the Christian Faith
From Dei Verbum to Verbum Domini and Beyond: An Evangelical Assessment of Theological Trends in the Present-Day Roman Catholic Doctrine of Scripture
Five Principles for Interpreting the Church Fathers
1. Why Evangelicals Need to Engage Roman Catholicism
Do the debates of the Reformation still matter for evangelicals today? How should evangelicals understand Roman Catholicism and why is it important for evangelicals to continue to engage the Roman Catholic Church from a biblical perspective? This opening session highlights the relevance and urgency for evangelicals to both better understand and more winsomely engage the Roman Catholic Church, including its theology and practices.
2. Same Words, Different Meanings: How Roman Catholicism Understands the Christian Faith
It is often pointed out that Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics have a lot in common. On the one hand, there is an apparent “common orthodoxy” based on the ancient Trinitarian and Christological creeds, which use the same basic words of the gospel: God, Jesus Christ, Bible, sin, faith, salvation, and so on. On the other hand, there is a profound difference in how the doctrines of Christ, the Church, and salvation (i.e. the core of the gospel) play out in practice.
In dealing with Roman Catholicism, especially in times of mounting ecumenical pressure, Evangelical Protestants should attempt to go beyond superficial commonalities based on shared vocabulary. They should instead be aware of the internal theological framework of Roman Catholicism and try to understand it in the light of Scripture.
3. From Dei Verbum to Verbum Domini and Beyond: An Evangelical Assessment of Theological Trends in the Present-Day Roman Catholic Doctrine of Scripture
The “Biblical Renewal” is one of the most significant movements that have both preceded and followed the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). After centuries of prohibiting the circulation of the Bible in the vernacular languages, the Roman Catholic Church has been working hard to reconnect with the Scriptures.
While rejoicing for some fruits of the “Biblical Renewal” that is taking place in Roman Catholicism, the analysis of key magisterial texts shows that in no way has Rome come closer to Sola Scriptura, that is, the obedience to the self-attesting Word of God. In this workshop, we will unpack the Roman Catholic view of Scripture and consider how it leads Catholics to think so differently from Evangelicals.
4. Five Principles for Interpreting the Church Fathers
Recent decades have seen Evangelical theology express a renewed interest in the Church Fathers. This is all well and good. Rooted in the Bible, Evangelicalism at its best has always thought of itself in continuity with the apostolic gospel as it was proclaimed and taught in the early church, the medieval period, the Protestant Reformation, and Evangelical revivals up to the present day. In this positive retrieval, there is also the danger of an idealization of the Fathers (as if they were always right and always working with pure motives) and a wholesale and unwarranted appreciation of “tradition” (as if it was a monolithic body that is organically related to Scripture). In order to both affirm the Evangelical interest in the Fathers and suggest some caveats in practizing it, the workshop will suggest five principles that can be useful to bear in mind.