Concordia Seminary, St. Louis second-year student Paul Flo was recently selected as a recipient of a 2016 Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).

Paul Flo
second-year seminarian

Flo was selected from 175 applicants to receive one of 12 FASPE fellowships. He is the first student from Concordia Seminary to receive this distinction. The fellowship includes a 12-day trip to Germany and Poland, including a visit to the site of the infamous Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp.

“Ethical discussions sometimes ascend to the abstract realm, disconnected from reality. Studying these topics in settings like Berlin, Auschwitz and Birkenau will connect them to reality,” said Flo. “I feel both honored and humbled to be included among this year’s 12 FASPE fellows.”

According to FASPE, the fellowship program for seminary students discusses the fate of “God’s image” in the shadow of the Holocaust, Christian churches and military chaplains in Nazi Germany and post war reconciliation, apologies and confessions, among other topics. FASPE states the goal is to provide students, through the exploration of these issues and visits to Holocaust sites, with new insights that will help them tackle problems of moral reasoning in their future vocation.

“We are thrilled at Paul’s acceptance into this program and believe that this interfaith dialogue in this context will strengthen his ministerial skills,” said Professor Emeritus Dr. Bruce Hartung, who recommended Flo for the fellowship. “There also is a benefit to the Seminary because of the rich and robust conversations Paul will be able to lead upon his return.”

The trip runs from June 17-30, 2016.

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.