Altum is a cultural and educational center that is being planned for the outskirts of Bratislava, Slovakia. The site of the new center will be the rural village of Slovensky Grob. The purpose of Altum is to host conferences, educational courses, lectures, workshops and spiritual retreats that will help participants grow in Christian and human virtues. It will foster an intellectual and moral environment that provides Christian education. The long-term objective is to help each participant mature and become a better person. The site of Altum is on 15 acres (6 hectares) of land. The proposed conference center is designed to host 35 people at a time and will include a library, a classroom, a chapel, sports facilities and a garden.
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The name Altum means “depth” in Latin. It is the hope of Altum’s organizers that every participant in the center’s activities will “go out into the deep” to discover what is true, good and most beautiful. Christian and spiritual education and formation in the center is entrusted to the Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church – Opus Dei, whose spirit is based on sanctification of oneself through professional work and through the fulfillment of everyday duties of the Christian life.
In today's hectic society no one bothers to ask questions such as: "Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Why does the World exist in the first place?", or questions like "What is the purpose of my life and how should I live it?" There could be two main reasons why we do not ask ourselves such questions. The first is the fear of finding out that our purpose is very shallow like pleasure, money or comfort. The second reason can be that we do not consider these questions as "scientific." We do not think that they even can be answered, because we cannot "measure" or prove the answers as true or false. On the other hand, all of us believe that we want to be happy and that happiness is somehow related to what we want to achieve. But what does it mean? Answers to such questions we can find in systematic science, called logic and philosophy. Every person is unique and different and answers to these questions can be different, but do we not want to at least be prepared for such a discovery journey? Do we want to search for the answers? We spend tremendous amount of time in our lives in schools and studies to gain knowledge and expertise in our professions to be successful. Should we not take the same approach when such important questions of our life are at stake?
The Conference Center Altum wants to be a place, where people can search and study answers to those most important questions in complete freedom, in the form of lectures, discussions and workshops, but mainly by organizing retreats, where in the time spent alone in silence, in a pleasant environment where a nice room and delicious food is waiting for you. People have been searching for answers to these questions for ages. We do not have to build our lives on "sand" or on an "empty field". We can make use of classic, time-tested ideas and works that we can study, subject to criticism, meditate on and, if we find them true, accept them as our own. Aristotle said that virtues are the foundation of a happy life. People of different opinions and religions will more or less agree on this. But it is really so, why, which virtues, which religion and why. Altum wants to be a place that lets you search for deeper truths. But do we believe that the truth exists, do we want to look for it?
Humans are the only beings who are born incapable of doing anything on their own and have to learn everything. Animals can walk within a few hours after birth, but a human needs one year. Animals instinctively know how to gather food or make a nest or den within a few months or year, while humans need to learn and study almost 20 years to take care of themselves and others. While human and animal bodies are similar, our spirit/soul/reason begins somewhat disconnected from the body and it has to connect and tame the body. Whether we like it or not a human is really body and soul, and needs time, relations and mainly love to develop, thrive and learn how to become fully human. Since early times, the best place for person to evolve and develop is in a family. Family, where each person is loved not because of his/her status or ability but because of person itself. Family is the natural environment for every person to form, develop and learn virtues in everyday life and in all circumstances and challenges which life brings.
The Altum Center wants to be a place to educate families: husbands, fathers, mothers and children to grow in marital love, the father-son relationship, and to provide children with the formation that parents desire. To educate and build a family and relationships based on time-proven values and approaches, without being afraid of changes in the way of life and society and to adopt and develop what is good and true from the past and today. Activities in the Center will take place in the form of lectures, courses and clubs. Here we intend to build on the already existing activities of the Family Enrichment, which organizes courses for spouses and young people in the form of case studies. Other activities are the Dowina Center, which organizes father-son meetings, as well as the Gerlach club for boys or the Ister center, which organizes clubs for girls.
Profit is often synonymous with a successful business. If the company has profit, growth and customers, then it is deemed successful. These three factors are certainly important and also tell whether the company is "healthy" in its own way. However, profit, growth and a growing number of customers can also be achieved by opening a casino or creating some kind of financial pyramid scheme. However, the question is whether we bring any value to people or companies, whether the business has a purpose or whether it just exists to make money. Does this business make us, our employees, customers and the world better and more beneficial to the society as a whole? Every business, even in the past and more and more now, needs a strategic plan, a vision or purpose both externally and internally. Only then can the company be truly successful. After that, profit, growth and the number of customers are only measures that show whether the vision makes sense and whether the company is healthy.
The Altum Center does not aim to advance a new economic theories of companies, there are specialized schools for that, but it wants to organize lectures, seminars and workshops where aspects of virtuous leadership, business with purpose, the importance of optimal work will be discussed - all this based on relevant studies and research. In addition, the Altum Center will organize lectures and discussions on the social teachings of the Catholic Church.
Building of the Center will cost about 3 million euro. The center owns 15 acres of land and has finished Schematic and Design phases of the project. As of today € 200,000 have been raised. Please help us to support the project.
To start building
20% of the goal reached
Regular monthly contribution to support the project and later loan installments
33% of the goal reached
IBAN: SK51 0200 0000 0031 5395 3156
Bank: Všeobecná úverová banka, a.s. – Mlynské nivy 1, 829 90 Bratislava, Slovakia
Account in the USA:
Bank Name: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Bank address: 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
ABA #: (For Domestic Wires) 021000021
SWIFT Code: CHASUS33
Beneficiary Name: Association for Cultural Interchange, Inc.
Beneficiary Account #: 107505205
Details/Information: Donation for Altum Slovakia
Contribution by check:
Please include a note specifying your support of Altum Slovakia and the donor’s name, postal address and email.
Please mail your check to:
Association for Cultural Interchange, Inc.
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 300,
New York, NY 10170
Contribution by wire transfer:
Please send an email message to info@culturalinterchange.org with the following information: transfer date, amount, purpose (“Donation for Altum Slovakia”), donor name, postal address and email.
Please send us a message if you are interested in the project.
