“I have called you friends.”
In June 2026 Pope Leo XIV named loneliness among the defining afflictions of our age — “a deeper human tragedy marked by loneliness, broken relationships, hopelessness.” Carmel’s answer is quiet but ancient: we must first be alone with God before we can be truly present to one another. Solitude is not the rival of friendship but its ground. Over two days we move from solitude and silence to friendship and communion.
Hosted by the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality, the 2027 Summit brings the wisdom of Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross and Thérèse of Lisieux to bear on the loneliness of our age — solitude and silence as the ground of real friendship. 2027 also marks thirty years since St Thérèse was named a Doctor of the Church.
Day One recovers the disciplines — stillness and attentiveness — as the ground of real presence to others.
Day Two turns to the fruit: the friendship that precedes us, closing with an evening symposium.
A dedicated day on mental wellbeing follows at the 2028 Summit.
Scholars of Carmel and the contemplative tradition, gathered around the recovery of friendship in a lonely age.
Dr Susan Muto is Executive Director of the Epiphany Association and Dean of the Epiphany Institute of Formative Spirituality in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A doctor of English literature from the University of Pittsburgh, she has taught the literature of ancient, medieval and modern spirituality for over forty years, and stands among the most respected voices in formative spirituality today. She opens the Summit with a keynote on solitude not as withdrawal but as the ground of true communion with God and one another.
Fr Alexander Ezechukwu, OCD, is a Discalced Carmelite priest and Director of the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality. He opens the Summit with its framing address on Christ’s naming of his disciples as friends (John 15:15), and on Saturday facilitates the workshop “From Conversation to Community,” in dialogue with Teresa of Ávila and Anne-Marie Ellithorpe.
Dr Joanne Mosley is an editor, writer and speaker specialising in Carmelite spirituality, and the author of Edith Stein: Woman of Prayer and Elizabeth of the Trinity: The Unfolding of her Message. She brings Elizabeth of the Trinity to the Summit as a witness whose hidden, silent life opened — through her correspondence — into a deep and faithful friendship, living proof that recollection widens rather than narrows the heart.
Dr Donald Wallenfang, OCDS (Emmanuel Mary of the Cross), is a secular Discalced Carmelite and professor of theology and philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He holds a PhD from Loyola University Chicago and specialises in Carmelite spirituality, phenomenology and the work of Edith Stein — the author of numerous books, including Human and Divine Being. He joins the Summit twice: on Friday, drawing out Edith Stein as a witness to self-emptying that opens us to the other; and on Saturday, bringing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into conversation with the contemplative tradition.
Fr Matt Blake, OCD, is a Discalced Carmelite priest and a member of the faculty of the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality in Oxford. As Provincial Delegate for the Secular Carmelites in Britain he has played a central role in nurturing the Secular Carmelite family across the country, and he is currently Prior of the Discalced Carmelite community in Kensington, London. He closes the opening day with a reflection on friendship as the grace of being known, drawn from Teresa of Ávila and García de Toledo.
Fr Rathan Nicholas Almeida, OCD, is a Discalced Carmelite friar who holds a doctorate in Systematic Theology, specialising in Christology, from the University of Vienna, Austria. A Professor of Theology, he is involved in Christian formation programmes in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, which encompasses the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. He opens the second day with the Thérèse anniversary keynote, “Wounded and Beloved.”
John Dalla Costa has spent four decades working at the intersection of faith and business as an author, consultant and teacher. In 1996 he founded The Centre for Ethical Orientation (CEO), and in 2023 he co-developed the School for Prophets with CACS. Originally from Canada and now resident in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, he presents on Titus Brandsma — a friend even to his captor — and the disarmed heart that true friendship asks of us.
Peter Tyler is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London. He has had a long involvement with Carmelite spirituality, authoring and editing many books on the subject, most recently John of the Cross: Carmel, Desire and Transformation (Routledge, 2024). At the Summit he chairs the Saturday Round Table and presides over the evening as Symposiarch.
Speaker line-up in formation; further names to be confirmed.
The full two-day programme. All times are UK (BST).
Every session is carried in live translation and captions. Scan a QR code on your phone, choose your language, and follow along — no app, no account. Online participants across the world join the same way.
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Attend in person as a day delegate, or join online from anywhere.
A dinner and table-fellowship conversation on the recovery of friendship. Booked separately from the day tiers; all proceeds support the work of CACS.
RegisterFor accommodation, please contact the retreat centre directly for availability and pricing. Enquiries: admin@cacs.org.uk.
Set in the peace of Boars Hill on the edge of Oxford, the Priory offers an ideal setting for contemplation, learning and renewal.
Carmelite Priory, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5HB, United Kingdom
Getting there
A shuttle from Oxford station will run on the first day.
Enquiries
admin@cacs.org.uk · +44 (0)1865 604003