The Ascension of Saint Francis of Assisi in Dante’s Paradise

In Switzerland, in Aula 2013 at the Anthropole of the University of Lausanne, Dorigny District, the high-level conference “The Ascension of Saint Francis of Assisi in Dante’s Paradise” was held on Friday, May 29, 2026, at 5:00 PM, on the occasion of the presumed birth of Dante Alighieri.
The event, which has the patronage of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure at the Seraphicum in Rome, the Municipality of Assisi, and the National Committee for the Celebration of the Eighth Centenary of the Death of St. Francis of Assisi (1226-2026), was organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Zurich, directed by Raffaele Pentangelo, and the Ars Pace Association, which took the initiative. In fact, this is the second event of “The Ascension of Francis into Dante’s Paradise” event, which was conceived by Ars Pace, on the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, to promote a new path of dialogue and culture dedicated to the figure of Saint Francis, whom Dante Alighieri remembers, after his passing, in Canto XI of Paradise. Five special events are scheduled in Zurich, Lausanne, Madrid, and Assisi, culminating in the Concert for Peace in Geneva on October 4^th.
The roundtable discussion opened with an institutional greeting from Ars Pace President Enrique Barón Crespo, followed by an introductory speech by Anna Rüdeberg, President of the Ars Pace Scientific Committee and the Bern Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society. Speakers included Giulio Ferroni, Professor Emeritus of Sapienza University of Rome, Fra Raffaele Di Muro, Dean of the San Bonaventura Theological Faculty of Rome, and Alberto Roncaccia, President of the Italian Section of UNIL.
The panel concluded with a beautiful concert by renowned Ukrainian violinist Anastasiya Petryshak.
Musical Program:
Paganini Sonata No. 1
Skoryk’s Carpathian Rhapsody
Skoryk’s Melody
Monti Czardas

(painting by Elisabetta Rogai)