In Bangkok, Dr Anselm Feldmann, Head of the Asia Division, held talks with scholarship holders and long-standing partners. He then travelled to Jakarta, where he held further talks with President Fr Dr Hans Langendörfer SJ, who was making his first trip to Asia as KAAD President, Secretary General Dr Nora Kalbarczyk and Julia Breker from the Asia Department.
In Thailand, Anselm Feldmann focused on meetings with partner institutions and scholarship holders, as well as discussions about study conditions, career prospects and the situation in Myanmar in the run-up to the upcoming elections there. The stops in Thailand helped to strengthen the KAAD's existing cooperation in the region and to combine academic, church and social perspectives.
In Bangkok, Anselm Feldmann met with representatives of Assumption University and Mahidol University on October 20 and 21 - both are long-standing partner universities of the KAAD. Together with Prof. Dr. Kitikorn Dowpiset, Vice President for Moral Development and Education, Assumption University, Professor Glen Chatelier, Director of the Office of International Affairs, and Rangsan Traibutra, Office of Graduate Studies, Assumption University, they reflected on the funding program that KAAD has maintained with the Diocese of Regensburg and the university for 24 years. Particularly impressive was the discussion about how Myanmar students can continue to be supported in times of political violence and instability and what forms of support can be provided in this situation.
At Mahidol University, the focus was on the meeting with Professor Chartchalerm Isarankura-Na-Ayudhya, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and Dr Sineewanlaya Wichit, Deputy Dean for International Relations, Network Development and Student Affairs. The thematic focus was on research, promoting young talent and alumni work, particularly in the field of public health, in which the KAAD, in cooperation with the Bettina Kattermann Foundation, has been awarding annual scholarships to outstanding students for eleven years.
At a dinner with third-country scholarship holders from Myanmar, it became clear that education is more than just imparting knowledge: it offers support, community and hope in uncertain times. The scholarship holders expressed their desire to organize a seminar in Bangkok next year – an example of how third-country funding creates academic spaces that cannot currently exist in their home country.
Another meeting led Anselm Feldmann to Father Andreas Bordowski OP, head of the German community in Bangkok. After the earthquake in Thailand and Myanmar, he initiated an appeal for donations for those affected, sending a strong signal of solidarity. This commitment showed impressively how Catholic networks around the world act out of a shared responsibility.
After the meetings in Thailand, KAAD continued its dialog work in Indonesia. Together with Nora Kalbarczyk and Julia Breker from the Asia Department, Fr Langendörfer traveled to Jakarta to visit partner institutions in the run-up to the upcoming academy abroad in Indonesia and to meet Anselm Feldmann there. This first visit by the KAAD President to Asia was dedicated to cooperation with Catholic universities and church partners in the region:
At the Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia on 23 October, the focus of the dialogue with Dr Yanti, Vice Rector for Innovation, Research, Cooperation and Alumni, and Adre Zaif Rachman, Head of the International Office, was on the question of how Catholic universities can understand science as a service to people. They also discussed funding opportunities for students and lecturers as well as the role of Catholic higher education in Indonesia's predominantly Muslim society. Several KAAD alumnae and alumni who are now working at the university took an active part in the discussion.
In the subsequent discussion with Fr Dr Leonardus Winandoko SJ, Secretary for School Education of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific based in Manila, the importance of networked, interreligious educational work became clear – a concern that unites both KAAD and its partners.
The KAAD Academy Abroad 2025, which focused on issues of global food security and social responsibility, then took place in Semarang.
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After their conclusion, Fr Langendörfer and Anselm Feldmann continued their meetings in Jakarta on October 27. Together with Dr Juliana Murniati, Chairwoman of the Partner Committee Indonesia, Father Hani Rudi Hartoko SJ, Chairman of the Jakarta Cathedral Parish, and Susyana Suwadie, Head of Public Relations of the Archdiocese of Jakarta, they visited the "Tunnel of Friendship". The building, which connects the Cathedral of the Assumption with the Istiqlal Mosque, is a special example of interreligious dialog in Indonesia. The tunnel, which was also visited by the late Pope Francis in 2024, points out – in his words – that the commonalities between religions become apparent when you go deeper.
The subsequent meeting with Father Adi Prasojo, Secretary General of the Archdiocese of Jakarta, revealed the dynamism of the Catholic Church in Indonesia, which is growing in an environment of religious diversity and at the same time taking responsibility for dealing with sexual abuse.
The day was rounded off with a joint dinner to which KAAD had invited the partner committee and the board of KONTAK, the Association of Catholic Students from Indonesia in Germany. This was combined with thanks for the outstanding voluntary commitment and for the preparation and implementation of the academy abroad.
The close exchange with the Indonesian alumnae and alumni made it clear that cooperation and trust are not just a topic, but a lived practice of the partnership between KAAD and its partners in Indonesia.
