WHAT IS HABITUS?
Habitus is a scholarly network aimed at studying and monitoring the status/role of Christianity in the 21st century. We aspire at becoming a specialized source of information covering the ecumenical specter of Christianity (from theology and ecumenical activities to the religious situations in different countries). For an explanation regarding the name of our organization please check the end of this presentation.

BACKGROUND
Across the world the religious situation has changed in recent years. This change has prompted new challenges for Christianity which struggles in a variety of ways to relate to the novel environment.
Religion has returned to the public sphere in many countries. This is true for both Western Europe, where secularization [1] had forced religion out of the public realm for years, and for Eastern Europe, where Communism restricted the religious freedom until the fall of the Iron Curtain. But African countries also, such as e.g. Ethiopia, have witnessed this comeback of religion in the wake of social change and upheaval.

In other countries, such as e.g. the US, religion has always been a dominating factor in the public life and an important actor on the political stage, even against the clear, constitutional separation between Church and State. But in these countries the religious situation has been changed by new waves of immigration and overall by globalization, which has transformed them into multireligious societies.[2]

This dramatic shift in the religious landscape, combined with the challenges prompted by secularization and modern technology, have forced Christianity and theology to rethink its role in our present times.
The Habitus network wishes to study the role of Christianity now based on this background. Our aim is to understand how Christianity reacts to the new challenges and also to put its reactions in context. Are the alternatives really the clash of civilizations[3] or the peaceful coexistence, fundamentalism or liberalism, rejection or openness? The scope of Habitus is also to examine how the world of today influences Christianity. Does its traditional doctrine change beyond recognition, as effect of such influence?
Lacking institutional opinion on political/social/economical issues, the organization is focused on an academic/scholarly agenda meant to stimulate discussion/awareness/study of delicate issues (rather than endorsing a certain answer/approach).

Aims of Habitus
Firstly, Habitus wishes to gather information from different countries in order to map the factual religious situation with special focus on the role of and influence on/by Christianity.

Secondly, Habitus wants to transform this information into detailed studies based on countries, denominations and regions. These would be useful to a wide audience.

Thirdly, Habitus strives to be a center of information about Christianity in all its diversity around the world. The Habitus network wants to be a valuable resource for the press with information on Christianity and the future perspectives on its development.

WORKING METHODS:
1. Web site
Habitus will be focused around the website www.habitusnetwork.org (work in progress) which will be an important resource on Christianity for researchers, church involved, and journalists. The website will be dedicated to:

• Facts about different countries and about local religious situation
  
• Detailed studies on Christianity in the contemporary world
  
• A list of lectures from all over Europe
  
• Articles and book reviews.
  
• Central calendar of events
  
• Directory of members
  

All in all, Habitus will make use of the modern information technology. By making the internet the meeting point we ensure that ecumenical research will fit the way people work today. This is an important contribution at a time when people talk about a reconfiguration of the ecumenical movement.

Events
Habitus will also from time to time arrange international conferences for researchers.
Furthermore, local events are encouraged, here Habitus can provide qualified speakers.

BENEFITS OF JOINING HABITUS:
The benefits of joining an international network are many. Here is just a few of them:

• Participating in an international network with good contacts
  
• Using Habitus as a platform for fundraising for local projects
  
• Participate in international events
  
• Possibility to publish articles to a worldwide audience
  
• Be an important voice in the description of Christianity in the world of today
  
• Experience a new way of doing international work by using the modern information technology.

HABITUS?
As a philosophical term, habitus originates in Aristotle’s notion of hexis, elaborated in his doctrine of virtue, meaning an acquired yet entrenched state of moral character that orients our feelings and desires in a situation, and therefore our conduct. The term was translated into Latin as habitus (past-participle of the verb habere, to have or hold) in the thirteenth century by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae, in which it received the added sense of aptitude for growth through activity, or durable disposition suspended half-way between potency and purposeful action.

In the secular modern world, Christianity lives entrenched in the fortress of its moral character, at mid-distance between its traditions and its prophetic calling for the future. The Habitus Network is decided at studying its facies.

HABITUS WHO?
Habitus is a network of persons who are invited due to their academical skills. This makes Habitus an exclusive network of very qualified individuals. The network has been started by Cristian Buchiu (Romanian Orthodox Church) and Christian Roar Pedersen (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark).

HABITUS WHERE?
Habitus is alway looking to expand its geographical representation.

Currently Habitus has members in: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Sweden.

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