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The 20th Incontro Romano Congress Inaugurated by the Mayor of Rome, Giovanni Alemanno

Around 200 students and young professionals from the world of service participated in the 20th Incontro Romano Congress. They were united by the same challenge: How to become Experts in Humanity through the carrying out of their work. This year, to open the congress, we were very lucky to have present with us the mayor of Rome, Giovanni Alemanno. Emphasizing and promoting the importance and need for work done well and that implies service directed towards persons, Alemanno put a great start to the congress which this year celebrates it’s 20th anniversary.

Managing Enthusiasm

The theme for this year was Lifestyle. The conferences were built upon the idea that our lifestyle reflects our personal identity and is key to the humanization of society. The lifestyle we create reflects how we confront reality, it shows through in our convictions, our values, ways of seeing and doing things – it is how we live. It is a choice we make, even if we are not always conscious of having made it, about who we are, how we present ourselves, and how we relate to others. Our lifestyle has a huge impact on society at large.

The keynote address this year was given by Victor Kϋppers, a collaborating professor at the IESE School of Business in Barcelona and founder of Kϋppers & Co., a consulting firm. As an expert in business and Emotional Intelligence, Kϋppers spoke about the management of enthusiasm. He most entertainingly and engagingly developed his speech around one key idea: the most important thing that we bring with us to work – whatever kind of work it may be – is our attitude.


Following Kϋppers’ presentation were various testimonials. As a platform for enrichment, testimonials were added to the congress program a few years back. Here, participants are given the opportunity to learn from other service professionals who share experiences that have made an impact on their lives, explain why they decided to dedicate themselves to their profession, tell of the vision they have about making money, etc.

This year we had an interdisciplinary array of testimonial presentations. Andrea Feehery, from the USA, is a member of Opus Dei. For some years now she has dedicated herself to professionally carrying out the task of creating a homey atmosphere in centers of Opus Dei. She explained how her professional vocation came along with her divine calling and how it touches all the aspects of her life. Andrea painted a picture of the life of an assistant numerary in Opus Dei and conveyed the broad impact her work has through the telling of some touching professional anecdotes.

Afterwards Encarnación Pérez Bret gave her testimonial. She is a nurse from Madrid who takes care of patients at the terminal phase of their lives. As the coordinator for the council of formation at the Laguna Center for Intensive Care, Encarnación related some of the numerous stories she has about her day-to-day life at work. All of her stories illustrated the richness and valor of this kind of work that not only helps patients, but their families as well.

A third testimonial was given by Fabio Campoli, a renowned Italian chef (knows as the “Chef of Rai Television”), who explained the process of his becoming a professional chef and how he started his family business. He felt a strong calling from very early on and now works as a chef and culinary arts instructor. He has recently published a most original cookbook called “Note di Gusto”.

In the afternoon we inaugurated the first ever Incontro Romano International Fair geared at the sharing of ideas and learning from other professionals in the service sector. Representatives from all five continents participated. There was such a variety of stands that one could taste test Italian Pasta, Czech cookies or Japanese sushi; learn cross-stitching or how to set the table; or discover nutrition facts useful for analyzing your personal eating habits. Also in the afternoon selected congress participants representing their respective countries came to the podium to presented their projects. They spoke about the power of the family meal, the role of the family in terms of humanization, the key role nurses play at the moment of death, and much more. Countries like Canada, Italy, Japan, Spain, Brazil had the chance to present their papers and in some cases several projects from the same country were selected to be presented at the 20th Incontro Romano Congress.

Incontro Romano is an international congress for students that aims to study themes that affect our society today and at the same time to discover the fundamental role women play particularly in person-directed professions.

Incontro Romano began with an international congress that took place in Rome in 1991 tackling the theme: ¨Woman, work, and family in the world¨. With the attendance of over a hundred students and professionals from across Europe, an inspirational idea from years before was brought to life.

The Servant of God Mons. Alvaro del Portillo – the first successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei – in 1990, encouraged a group of professionals in the service industry to carry out an initiative that could amplify the good influence these professions can have on people and institutions. As such, the initiative was directly in line with what St. Josemaría had always taught from the very beginning of his preaching:

¨It is necessary … that the person who offers this service must be trained for the job, which means she must be professionally prepared. I said 'service' — although the word is not popular these days — because any job that is well done is a wonderful service to society, and this is as true of domestic work as it is of the work of a professor or a judge. The only work that is not a service is that of a person who works for his own self-interest¨(Conversations with Mons. Escrivá de Balaguer, n. 109).

CONTACT US AT:
incontroromano@elis.org