This year, the Villa Aurora Meeting returns, the annual event that brings together diverse visions of the world and the future. From August 24 to 30, 2025, the monumental park of Villa Aurora in Florence will host scholars, religious representatives, institutions, and citizens for a week of open, passionate, and profound dialogue.

The theme of this edition, “God in Our Time”, opens up a reflection that is as current as it is necessary: Is God still a recognizable voice in our present? In a world marked by global crises, social fragmentation, and the search for meaning, the theme of God’s presence (or absence) returns strongly to public debate, albeit often in unexpected or misinterpreted forms.

“There was a time when the theory of secularization predicted the disappearance of God from the public scene; the philosophies of suspicion and Freudian thought downgraded religion to an illusion destined to dissolve in modernity; things did not turn out that way, and later Gilles Kepel wrote the beautiful essay ‘The Revenge of God,’ and Peter Berger also had to reconsider, noting how modernity still counted many altars.”
Today, God enjoys a certain notoriety in public discourse, yet often remains hidden or even misrepresented. In the Bible, He reveals Himself as an anonymous traveler on the road to Emmaus, in a gentle whisper, or even in a talking donkey or a dense cloud. For this reason, we question how He hides and reveals Himself in our time and where He allows Himself to be sought and found: we wish to dialogue with you about this mystery, the unmanifest presence of God in our world.”

The Villa Aurora Meeting is a space for dialogue that does not abandon a theological vision of the world and history. In the interdisciplinary thematic panels, ethical, political, and ecological issues are addressed each year through the exchange of secular, religious, and academic perspectives, without excluding personal and spiritual experience.

In a time that often struggles to combine spirituality and contemporaneity, we want to ask together: Where does God manifest today? And how can we recognize Him in our daily lives, amidst the challenges of our time?

We invite you to participate, listen, ask questions, and share your perspective.

For further information and to consult previous editions, visit the page dedicated to the Villa Aurora Meeting:
villaaurora.it/villaaurorameeting