In 1968, Professor Umberto Farri organized the first Univ Forum in Rome. He aspired to provide an intellectually and spiritually enriching conference in which university students might learn how to interact with the challenges of society and dialogue with those with opposing views. Farri saw a student’s college years as a crucial time of formation and the corresponding responsibility that universities have to their students. Through his teachings and the way he operated the Univ conference, he sought to teach university students the importance of serving society by doing their work well and living in union with Christ in their everyday lives.

This year’s conference theme was “The Family Impact.” According to the Univ website, the conference offered students reflections on the importance of the family “as the foundation and model of social life.” The conference stated that society’s current relativist approach to the family is affecting how university students are taught and how students must accept a new definition of “family” and “love.”

On March 17, four Notre Dame students and one Saint Mary’s College student left South Bend to participate in the 49th Univ conference, along with close to 3000 other young men and women from universities all over the world. Unlike most conferences, Univ is comparable to a weeklong interactive pilgrimage. Participants not only listen to speakers, but they also participate in Holy Week events across Rome and have the opportunity to meet and celebrate Masses with the pope. This year, Univ welcomed the largest crowd of Americans that has ever attended the conference since its origin. Other countries in attendance included Australia, Japan, South Africa, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Poland, Austria, and France.

On Holy Thursday, March 24, Univ held the formal part of the conference in a venue called Fraterna Domus in the countryside of Rome. The conference president, Margarida Moreira, began by addressing what being in a family means and how we actively participate in it. She said, “Love is in our roots. Love is the soul of our family, and this soul of our family is radical. The happiness of one becomes the happiness of the other, and when you marry the same happens, two become one.” Afterward, Ms. Moreira introduced the conference’s keynote speaker, Dr. Tugdual Derville.

Dr. Derville obtained his law degree from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Paris in 1985 and continued his studies in business at the ESSEC Business School. For many years he worked for Petits frères des pauvres, an association for the care of the elderly. In 1986 he founded A Bras Ouverts, an association that cares for people with mental disabilities. In 1994, he joined the Alliance for the Right To Life, later to become Alliance VITA, which is a large pro-life organization that promotes the protection of human life and dignity of every person, especially those that are most vulnerable.

Derville spoke about what it means to respect for life in all stages. He said, “Respect for life goes beyond what I can feel. We must believe that this person must have dignity.”

He then spoke about the relationship between a married man and woman and how they are the basis to start a family. He explained that man and woman are complementary and that any teaching that disrupts this is destructive. For example, “using a surrogate mother destroys the bond between the mother and child. It creates a declining motherhood.” He then spoke about how adoption is completely different in the sense that one is not designing their child but taking care of another’s child who could not properly take care of them.

Derville then stated differences between men and women regarding how they work together in a family. He said that men generally move in the present time and focus on completing their mission, while women have a much more global outlook on life and a deep understanding of the complexity of things. When a couple works together, they provide the best atmosphere for raising children. “One gets married in order to know [oneself] more,” said Derville.

Derville explained that the family unit is the truest ramp to reality. “A married couple has an incredible adventure. A family is creative and always being renewed … But now, totalitarianism tries to replace parents.” According to Derville, the family cannot be reduced to individualism.

His last point touched upon sexual fidelity. He said that society today has a paradoxical, double injunction: contraceptives, which prove to be unnatural and violent. Derville stated that order to obtain sexual fidelity in one’s vocation, marriage or otherwise, and to respect the dignity of each human life, one must live with the conviction that relationships are important. “We need to approach reality,” he said. “Natural law is written on hearts of all men and women. We must attach ourselves to commandments of happiness. Awaken a true force of life.”

Notre Dame sophomore Darcy James presented her paper entitled, Children: Treasures of the Muslim Family on a panel with three other university students.

Freshman Marta Brown attended Univ and told the Rover, “I realized that the weakest people are not those who are physically crippled, but those who are so certain that they can do everything on their own” she explained. “I understood the meaning of the Catholic Church and my place to encourage people around me to be the best version of themselves. The beauty of dependence is one of God’s greatest gifts, because through this, I can understand how much He desires us to be one step closer in understanding how He loves us.”

Crystal Avila is a junior studying Film and Television. She encourages people to learn more about Univ and Dr. Derville by researching them on their official websites. If you would like to hear more about Univ, have any questions about it, or are curious to see some of the epic photos she took of Pope Francis during her trip there, email her at cavila3@nd.edu.