“Courage. Education. Future.” Global Perspectives at the Catholic Convention in Würzburg

Under the theme “Have courage, stand up!”, the Catholic Day brought together tens of thousands of people for church services, discussions, workshops, and cultural events. For the KAAD group, Würzburg became a place of shared reflection on global crises, social responsibility, and the question of how faith, education, and scientific work can be connected.

The accompanying KAAD seminar was titled “Care for Creation: Faith and Ecology in Times of Climate Change.” The starting point was the question of how ecological challenges, social justice, and religious responsibility can be considered together. Drawing on Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’, ecological challenges were repeatedly discussed during the seminar in the context of social justice and global responsibility and linked to the experiences of the scholars from their respective home countries.

For many of the participants, the panel discussion “Useful, Meaningful, Effective? Development Policy Under Scrutiny” was therefore one of the most important events of the Catholic Day. Moderator Daniela Ordowski discussed the future of international development cooperation in times of global crises and growing political tensions with Federal Minister for Development Reem Alabali-Radovan, Member of the Bundestag; Dr. Andreas Frick, Executive Director of Misereor; and Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). The discussion focused on issues of long-term responsibility, sustainable development strategies, and the importance of local partnerships. It was repeatedly emphasized that development policy cannot be reduced solely to short-term aid measures but requires long-term investments in education, healthcare, and social infrastructure. At the same time, paternalistic structures within international cooperation were critically discussed. Following the event, the KAAD group had a personal meeting with Federal Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan. For many of the scholars, who themselves conduct research on issues of global development, social justice, or sustainable transformation, this became a special moment during the Katholikentag.

Closely linked to these issues was the event “Global Health: A Question of Justice? – Why We Need More Courage, Solidarity, Education, and Research,” organized by KAAD in collaboration with medmissio Würzburg and the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief (DAHW). The focus was on the question of who has access to medical care worldwide and which structural inequalities continue to shape health systems today. KAADalumna Dr. Fabiana Faleiros Castro, a rehabilitation scientist at the University of São Paulo (USP), spoke about her own educational journey and the importance of education for social participation and global health. She herself earned her doctorate with the support of a KAAD scholarship at TU Dortmund University and subsequently returned to Brazil, where she now works as a professor at USP. There, she founded the “Neurorehab” research group, which, among other things, develops digital and multilingual resources for people with disabilities, their families, and healthcare professionals. During the discussion, her biography served as a starting point for further questions regarding educational equity, social responsibility, and international cooperation. Also participating in the discussion, moderated by Luzius Zöller, were State Secretary Dr. Georg Kippels, Member of the German Bundestag; Würzburg-based tropical medicine specialist Prof. Dr. August Stich; and Felicitas Schwermann, a physician and consultant for global health. It was emphasized repeatedly how closely health is linked to education, social justice, communication, and social stability.

Another focus of the seminar program was on issues of religious understanding and coexistence in a pluralistic society. On Thursday, KAAD Secretary General Dr. Nora Kalbarczyk moderated the discussion “Toward a Culture of Dialogue: The Abu Dhabi Document. A Milestone and Its Political-Religious Consequences.” Together with Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide, Professor of Islamic Religious Education at the University of Münster and Director of the Center for Islamic Theology in Münster, and Prof. Dr. Anja Middelbeck-Varwick, Professor of Religious Theology and Religious Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and a member of the ZdK, she discussed Christian-Muslim dialogue against the backdrop of the conciliar document Nostra Aetate. The discussion focused on the Declaration on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi in 2019, as well as its significance for contemporary forms of interreligious understanding. Among other things, the discussion addressed questions of religious authority, religious pluralism, religious freedom, and the theological viability of the concept of “fraternity of all humankind,” as well as the scope of interreligious understanding processes within religious communities themselves. Despite differing emphases, the central idea remained that interreligious dialogue is not limited to symbolic encounters or diplomatic gestures. It remains a demanding process that requires self-criticism, historical awareness, and a willingness to tolerate differences and seek genuine exchange and understanding.

This was the focus of the workshop “Our Spirituality and Our Everyday Life in Germany,” which KAAD organized together with the Christian-Muslim Discussion Group at the ZdK. There, Christian and Muslim students exchanged views in small groups about their daily lives in Germany, their experiences of belonging and alienation, and the role of religious and moral convictions in everyday life. The starting point was questions about concrete experiences of acceptance and exclusion, about places of social belonging, and about tensions between personal religiosity and everyday social life. Among other things, discussions focused on the significance of spirituality, community, and religious practice in the lives of international students, as well as the hopes and expectations participants associate with their lives in Germany. Mental health, loneliness, and the search for community were also among the topics repeatedly addressed during the Catholic Day. In the workshop “Get Out of the Cloud! An Invitation to a Conversation about Loneliness and Community,” organized by KAAD in collaboration with Sant’Egidio and the Federal Association of the Catholic Church at Universities, young adults engaged in conversation with one another in a World Café format. The discussion repeatedly circled back to questions that concern many young adults: When do I truly feel like I belong? What helps combat the feeling of being invisible? How do genuine encounters arise in an age of constant digital connectivity? Discussions covered loneliness during college, social media and self-image, migration, feeling like an outsider, and new communities, as well as spirituality, friendship, volunteer work, and listening as an expression of humanity and mutual care.

The days were also accompanied by shared spiritual experiences, including the celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension on Residenzplatz and the intercultural evening Mass “Being a Sign of Hope as a Community of the Encouraged,” organized jointly by KAAD, the Cusanuswerk, and the Federal Association of the Catholic Church at Universities. Students and young adults from different countries and cultural contexts helped organize the Eucharistic celebration. The group also took part in the Taizé evening prayer “Night of Lights” at Würzburg Cathedral and in the joint closing Mass of the Catholic Day. Through a combination of discussion, prayer, and personal exchange, new forms of mutual understanding emerged across cultural, linguistic, and religious differences.

Another visible focal point of KAAD’s presence at the Catholic Day was the booth on the “Church Mile.” Under the guiding theme “Courage. Education. Future.,” the booth concept combined alumni portraits, interactive elements, and personal conversations to create an open space for encounter. In short three-minute presentations, the scholars introduced their research projects and social initiatives directly at the booth and engaged in conversation with visitors. The projects presented ranged from sustainable resource management and environmental issues to human rights and teacher training, as well as mental health, social participation, and international development cooperation, and are closely linked to specific societal challenges in the scholars’ respective countries of origin. For example, a fellow from Bangladesh presented his research on environmental pollution caused by the textile industry and on sustainable water and resource management. The starting point for his work was personal experiences in Dhaka, where water scarcity and environmental pollution shape the daily lives of many people. Another fellow spoke about educational inequality and human rights in Pakistan, as well as her work with children who are denied access to education. The open format of the short presentations repeatedly led to spontaneous conversations between the scholars and visitors along the “Church Mile.” Some visitors initially asked about the recipients’ countries of origin or fields of study, while others inquired specifically about the social contexts of individual research projects or discussed broader scientific and political issues. Thus, brief encounters often gave rise to longer conversations about global interconnections, personal experiences, international responsibility, and the role of science in processes of social transformation.

For many of the scholars, the Catholic Day thus became a place where their research, experiences, and perspectives came to light: not in isolation from one another, but embedded within broader questions of global responsibility, the Church’s self-understanding, and the future of society.