The inaugural lesson will take place on Friday, September 25 at 18:00 in the Diocesan Seminary, led by Jesús D. Hurtado Giráldez, who will discuss the reception of the Synod in the diocese.
The theological centres of the Diocese of Málaga, San Pablo and the San Manuel González Theological School, will inaugurate the 2026-2027 academic year on Friday, September 25 at 18:00 in the Diocesan Seminary, in an event marked by the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality, as reported by Diario Sur.
The inaugural lesson will be given by Jesús D. Hurtado Giráldez, a professor at both centres and chaplain of the San Manuel González Theological School, who is also the parish priest of San Fernando (Málaga) and has recently been appointed as the priest in charge of lay ministries.
His talk will be titled "A Church in Conversion. Conciliar Reception and Pastoral Projection of the Diocese of Málaga in Light of Synodality" and originates from his doctoral thesis, a study on the pastoral development of the Málaga diocese since the Second Vatican Council.
"In my research, I realised that there had not been a diocesan synod here since 1909, with the last Málaga bishop, D. Juan Muñoz, who was from Antequera. I began to wonder why there had never been such an event, not even before the Second Vatican Council," Hurtado details.
From diocesan bulletins, the professor has identified other instruments that facilitated the reception of the Council, such as the meetings of the People of God promoted by Ramón Buxarrais or the diocesan pastoral assemblies and pastoral projects from the time of Antonio Dorado.
For Hurtado, the publication of the encyclical "Evangelii gaudium" represented "a breath of fresh air" on the path towards a synodal Church. "It helped us see that the Church cannot remain closed in on itself, become stagnant and shut its doors, merely celebrating sacraments and little else, but must be a Church in mission, reaching out to the peripheries," he asserts.
The educator maintains that reform through synodality involves a dual process of conversion, both pastoral and synodal, and that it does not begin with structures, but with mentality. "We are already taking small steps: the end-of-year Assembly last year, a result of that synod implementation process, was a gift for our diocesan Church," he adds.
The theological centres offer studies in Theology and Religious Sciences to laypeople, religious, seminarians, and priests. Currently, registration is open for the III Week of Spirituality, which will take place from October 13 to 16 and will focus on synodal spirituality, with activities centred on encounter, listening, and discernment. Information is available at ceset.edu.es.
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