Christendom College’s History Department will host a conference this coming February centered on the theme “Eternity in Time: Thinking with the Church Through History.” The conference, scheduled for February 20–21 on Christendom’s campus, will bring together historians from across the United States to help Catholics think more deeply about history, better understand the Church’s past, and strengthen the Church’s public witness in contemporary culture.
Inspired by Pope Francis’ call for a “renewed sense of history,” the History Department’s 2026 conference will gather scholars from a variety of disciplines to challenge common misunderstandings about the Church throughout history. Rather than presenting the Church as either a mere collection of dates or an unreal institution untouched by struggle or human weakness, the conference will aim to provide students, faculty, clergy, educators, and thoughtful Catholics with thought-provoking talks, allowing them to engage with history as the Church herself understands it.
The conference is open to the public for a registration fee of $80, which includes access to all conference sessions, an opening reception, continental breakfast and lunch, and a concluding cocktail hour and banquet. Christendom College faculty, staff, and students may attend the conference free of charge, excluding the concluding cocktail hour and banquet. All events will be held in the college’s Old Chapel Hall.
The conference will begin on Friday, February 20, with a welcome reception, followed by a keynote address from Fr. David Endres, who will present an Augustinian and Leonine approach to interpreting the Church’s past. On Saturday, February 21, after breakfast, the conference will feature four panel discussions addressing topics such as models of historical interpretation and the role of history within the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Panelists will include scholars from institutions across the country, including the University of Notre Dame, Hillsdale College, Boston College, and The Catholic University of America. The conference will conclude with a cocktail hour and banquet for registered guests and Christendom faculty on Saturday evening.