Freedom as a driving force for creativity

Paulo Mendes Pinto

It was March 1998 when I first stepped into Universidade Lusófona. Guided by Pastor Dimas de Almeida and Father Bento Domingues, I began teaching a course in the History of Religions. It was the realization of a dream. A door opening, fundamentally as a sense of fulfilment. Completeness seemed to be a feeling that could actually be achieved. And at that moment, it was.

Years passed, and the degree programmes and courses taught began to diversify. The first roles and positions, presented as major challenges, were also undertaken. The responsibilities corresponded to an ever-greater embrace of an ecosystem where I felt at home. I gave, and I felt that this giving corresponded, more than just to a place in a project, to being in total harmony with it.

Over the years, projects multiplied. Initiatives with religious communities became well-established. A distinct image and a direct relationship were forged between the study of religions and Universidade Lusófona. It was like a circle closing, demonstrating something very simple and beautiful to me: what I wished to do, at the crossroads between the knowledge of religions and citizenship, had a place here, within an institution where I experienced total freedom of creation and innovation.

Only at Lusófona could I have done what I did, without the weight of hierarchies, without the fear of being misunderstood, or the anxiety that it might harm my career. The appeal of a position at a public university was placed before me several times, but the price was well known to me: those were ecosystems entirely averse to the way I created, and I would have had to abandon the whole dynamic of projects and initiatives that I had set in motion.

I stayed at Universidade Lusófona, not out of inertia, but because here I saw myself reflected in an educational project centred on innovation, creative capacity, and the valuation of those who do things differently. The Rectorate and the Administration always supported me in the challenges that were put forward.

And this journey of mine, rather than being a self-centred gaze, corresponds to an awakening of consciousness that we only experience at certain moments in life. And, so often, this happens because a pretext arises. In this case, it was the recently created 25 years of service medal.

I went to collect mine—after all, I have 28 years of service here—but there were many of us who received it. We weren't just 10 or 15. No, in the ceremony, deftly conducted by Dr Paulo Lopes, faces and names followed one after another. So many that I do not know how many there were, but I noticed something that I could have realised before, but at that moment was all too obvious: whether in the teaching staff or across the most varied services, stability is clearly a hallmark of Universidade Lusófona. There are 161 lecturers and staff members eligible to receive it. Many have been here, like me, for more than 25 years! This is rare and deserves reflection.

For various reasons, depending on the services and contexts, each of these honourees gave more than 25 years of work to the same project, which means a great deal. It means a lot to each of us, but let us look at it from the institution's perspective. On the side of Universidade Lusófona, on the side of COFAC, its founding body, this means that, even amidst adversities, various crises, and severe storms, we believed in the project and stood firm with it. It was part of us and, naturally, we were, and are, part of it.

It is a symbiosis expressed in a longevity that will continue to define this relationship, which is more than just professional—it is one of identity.

We are Lusófona!

Paulo Mendes Pinto
Coordinator of the Science of Religions area at Universidade Lusófona
Universidade Lusófona - Lisbon University Centre