Martin Luteran is a native of Kosice, Slovak Republic, where he attended the Dominican secondary school of St. Thomas Aquinas. Martin spent a year in St. Paul, MN, as a Global Outreach student during the 1996-97 school year at Cretin-Derham Hall Catholic High School. Later he graduated from law school in Bratislava and obtained his PhD from Oxford University. Beginning in 1999, Martin participated in the annual Summer Seminar on the Free Society conferences for Catholic university students from the U.S. as well as from Slovakia and other post-communist countries. This seminary was organized by the Slovak-American Catholic lay theologian Michael Novak in Poland and Slovakia. In the fall of 2001 Martin was a Witherspoon Scholar at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.
Returning to Bratislava, he and another Witherspoon Scholar helped found the Ladislav Hanus Fellowship (
www.hanusfellowship.org), a one semester study & enrichment program for Slovak university students.
Following the success of the Hanus Fellowship, Martin founded the Kolegium Antona Neuwirtha (www.kolegium.org) outside of Bratislava, which is a one year residential program for Slovak university students designed to offer a deeper experience of intellectual and spiritual exploration and enrichment. Martin's goal, as rector of the Kolegium, is to help form Slovak university students who will lead their country in 20-30 years.
Martin married Dorota Seregiova in January, 2013, and they had their first child, Filip Viliam, in November, 2014.
Grateful for freedom, with your support we continue our work...
November 2014
Dear Fr.Mike,
November 17th will mark 25 years since the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. I was 10 years old then and will never forget how we had to change overnight the greetings of our teachers from "Comrade teacher" to "Mrs teacher". It was of course just the first of many changes that we had to go through as a post-communist society.
What a great blessing it is to live in a non-totalitarian society! If I compare my growing up and adulthood and all the options I've had with those of my parents, I live in a much better world. It's so different it it easy to forget what my parents and grandparents had to suffer.
However, a non-totalitarian society is not yet an authentically free society. Freedom from coercion is a gift but freedom for virtue is an on-going fight.
Collegium of Anton Neuwirth continues with this fight in our society by creating space and time where young people can seek truth, goodness and beauty.
Thank you for being part of this fight for authentic freedom in Slovakia.
Martin Luteran
Rector of CAN
P.S. In the coming weeks, we will be sending a 5-year-report in English to our English speaking donors and friends. If we do not have your postal address and you would like to receive the report, please send us your address in a reply to this email.
Highlights from CAN life
Let me give you a few bulleted news from the last months in CAN:
- July
: Free Society seminar 2014 brought together students from USA, Slovakia, Canada, Croatia and the Philippines for an intensive week of discussion and reflection on free society and its challenges
Participants of SALAS
- July
: SALAS was the first CAN summer school for Slovaks studying abroad hoping to inspire their return to Slovakia
- August: The ninth version of the
Summer universityfor more than 20 high-schoolers was as successful as ever
- August:
The Central European Summer Schoolgathered students and teachers from Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia to discuss philosophical, theological and cultural issues.The idea came to life thanks to my Polish friend whom I got to know through Michael Novak's Tertio Millennio Summer school in Krakow back in 1999
Family of Anton Neuwirth at the gala-evening
-
September 16th:
opening of the 6th academic year at CAN with 18 new students
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September 21st: gala-evening commemorating
10th anniversary of Anton Neuwirth's death
- CAN alumnus Michal Zathurecky started a prestigious Magister Iuris program at the
University of Oxford
-
October 25th: CAN rector Martin Luteran spoke to about 100 Slovaks studying/working in UK gathered at a conference in London, encouraging them to give depth to their lives by serious study and reflection
- There were
four weddings over the summer where both spouses are CAN alumni totaling 9 CAN weddings so far
On a more personal note
Dorka and I finally exchanged the chateau for our own little apartment about 25-minute-walk away. For the first time in my life, I actually have to go to work. :-) It's great and we're enjoying our new home immensely.
More importantly, our first son is due any day now. It's an exciting, albeit somewhat stressful time. Please, keep us in your prayers. Thank you.
Fundraising Campaign 2014
We now accept gifts to support the 6th academic year which was successfully launched in September. So far we have raised 55 982 euros and still need to find 23 018 euros by the end of December to secure the on-going academic year.
Contributing to the education of principled leaders for Slovakia
Thank you in advance for considering to support CAN. Your help can go a long way.
Although most of our donors and donations come from Slovakia (which is as it should be), we welcome and feel very encouraged by gifts from our friends abroad. It helps us realize that we are members of a bigger family with similar concerns around the world.
There are 3 different ways to support CAN from abroad: