Kategorie: General

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

The next conference of the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE) will take place on 21-24 August 2025 at the Protestant Theological University in Budapest, Hungary. This was decided by the board of the European network at its meeting in February. At the invitation of Eszter Kodacsy-Simon, board member from Hungary, the conference is thus returning to Eastern Europe after Dublin (West) and Rome (South). The theme of the conference will be announced shortly.

PILGRIM news:

ICCS news:

Together with its partner, the IV, ICCS has published the latest issue of its joint newsletter.
This time you can read more about this year’s IV General Assembly in Cieszyn, where the idea was born to collect concepts for combating anti-Semitism, and about the Bavarian-Hungarian kindergarten meeting in Passau. In addition, GPENreformation and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana organised a conference in Ghana on the topic of “Protestant Education in the Digital Age” and Dr Werner Haussmann took part in the meeting of the European Christian Environmental Network on behalf of ICCS.

We would also like to inform you about some upcoming events, such as the study trip to Budapest, the next General Assembly of IV in Slovakia, the first joint national congress of German Protestant and Catholic schools in Aachen and the Nuremberg Forum 2024 on “Education for Sustainable Development”.

And last but not least, you can also read about the following topics in this extensive issue:
A new board was elected at the EFTRE conference in Rome, the COGREE team held its annual conference in Vienna and the CEEC has a new president, who introduces himself in an interview. Furthermore, the European Wergeland Centre marked its 15th anniversary this November and eight European networks dealing with religion and education met with CPCE General Secretary in Vienna.

Enjoy reading!

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Eine neue Gruppe von ‚Familienmitgliedern‘ hat die Leitung von EFTRE übernommen. Die Konferenz in Rom im August 2023 war auch der Ort und die Zeit für die reguläre Generalversammlung des Forums, bei der die Mitglieder des Vorstands und der Exekutive, der Leitungsgremien von EFTRE, gewählt werden.

Geschäftsführender Vorstand

Die Wahl des geschäftsführenden Vorstands wurde mit Spannung erwartet, da zwei langjährige Mitglieder – Lesley Prior als Vorsitzende und Elisabeth Faber als Sekretärin – angekündigt hatten, von ihren Ämtern zurückzutreten. Die EFTRE-Gemeinschaft drückte ihnen ihre große Dankbarkeit für ihr Engagement und ihre harte Arbeit aus. Mit großer Freude wählten die Mitglieder Bert Roebben aus Deutschland/Belgien zum neuen Vorsitzenden und Tuomas Anttila aus Finnland zum neuen Sekretär. Lesley und Elisabeth sind weiterhin als reguläre Mitglieder im geschäftsführenden Vorstand dabei, ebenso wie Hugo Verkest (Belgien), Marios Koukounaras Liagkis (Griechenland), Norman Richardson (Nordirland) und Bianca Kappelhoff (Deutschland).

Vorstand

Viele der bisherigen Vorstandsmitglieder erklärten sich bereit, ihr Amt in der nächsten Amtszeit weiterzuführen. Die Mitglieder freuten sich, ein neues Vorstandsmitglied für die Ukraine, Kateryna Buchko, begrüßen zu können. Zusammen mit Olga Schihalejev, Vorstandsmitglied aus Estland, hat sie sich bereit erklärt, im Kommunikationsteam von EFTRE mitzuarbeiten, das vom geschäftsführenden Vorstand aus von Bianca Kappelhoff koordiniert wird.

Alle Mitglieder des Vorstands und des geschäftsführenden Vorstands werden bis zur nächsten Generalversammlung gewählt, die auf der für 2025 geplanten Konferenz stattfinden wird.

Ein Fächer, gute Laune und viel Expertise machten die Konferenz des European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE) in Kooperation mit Snadir (italienischer Lehrkräfteverband) vom 24.-27. August 2023 zu einem besonderen Erlebnis. Bei nahezu 38°C versammelten sich Religionslehrkräfte und Religionspädagog:innen aus Schulen, Verbänden und Universitäten aus ganz Europa in Rom, um sich zum Thema „Bridges over Troubled Waters – RE in Changing Times“ auszutauschen. Wie können wir im Religionsunterricht Brücken bauen? Was braucht es an den jeweiligen Enden der Brücken?

Ein reiches Programm an Vorträgen, Workshops und Ausflügen vor Ort regten zur Reflektion an. Gleich zu Beginn weckte der Vortrag von Maria Raspatelli, Gewinnerin des Global Teacher Award, Inspiration, Motivation und Vorstellungskraft, was gutes Lernen im Religionsunterricht ausmacht.

Fragen zum Grundverständnis von RU nach den Pandemieerfahrungen, zum Beitrag von RU zu einem demokratischen Schulleben und zur religiösen Toleranz, zum Umgang mit kontroversen Themen – insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund des weiterhin wütenden Krieges in Europa in der Ukraine – und vieles mehr wurden diskutiert und praktische Ansätze vorgestellt. Dabei kam die Konferenz stets auf die Frage zurück: Wie kann Religionsunterricht Dialog und Verbindungen schaffen und damit Brücken bauen? Wie können Religionslehrer:innen in Zeiten massiver Verunsicherung und Angst “Hoffnungsträger” sein? Alle Teilnehmenden brachten ihre Expertise und Erfahrungen aus ihren Ländern ein und tauschten sich untereinander über aktuelle Entwicklungen, RU-Modelle und didaktische Ideen aus. Die Teilnehmenden lobten die offene und herzliche Atmosphäre, die ein gewinnbringendes Lernen ermöglichte. Ein besonderes Highlight war das Konferenzdinner unter freiem Himmel im Innenhof der historischen Gebäude der Link Campus Universität.

Auf der Website von EFTRE ist eine breite Dokumentation der Konferenz verfügbar. Die Präsentationen der Hauptvorträge, die Materialien der Workshops, eine Fotogalerie sowie eine eine Zusammenfassung der gesamten Konferenz sind dort frei zugänglich. Darüber stehen auf dem youtube Kanal von Snadir Kurzzusammenschnitte der Konferenztage zur Verfügung.

ICCS news:

The European Wergeland Center (EWC) marks its 15th anniversary in November 2023 by running several seminars to share insights from their work from November until March 2024. The Center was established in Oslo by the Council of Europe and Norway in 2008. EWC is a resource centre on education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. It serves all 46 member states of the Council of Europe and is currently running projects in 22 countries in Europe.

Executive director of EWC Ana Perona-Fjeldstad is glad, that the topic of education is currently at the top of the agenda of the Council of Europe. The Standing Conference of Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe on 29th September 2023  adopted five resolutions under the headline “The Transformative Power of Education: Universal Values and Civic Renewal”. These resolutions set up the Council of Europe’s

Education Strategy 2030 “Learners First: Education for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Democratic Societies” and the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education in 2025. Furthermore, they deal with the renewal of the civic mission of education and education in times of emergencies and crisis as well as harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence in and through education. 
These initiatives show what the EWC has always underlined: education is an important way to defend and strengthen our democracies.” 

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/theewc.org?locale=hy_AM)

In this context, EWC and Council of Europe are cooperating to educate teachers to take on the task of Digital Citizenship education. One-year course is already launched and more is to come. It is about how to equip children and young people for their life online and offline, and the course is given on an online learning platform.

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Anfang Dezember trafen sich in Wien acht europäische Netzwerke, die sich mit Religion und Bildung in formalen und non-formalen Settings beschäftigen. Neben den Vertreter:innen der Mitgliedsorganisationen von CoGREE (vgl. Artikel ‚Zukunftsfragen beschäftigen CoGREETeam bei Jahreskonferenz‘) waren Walter Lüssi für OIKOSNET Europe sowie Heike Witzel für EAEE dabei. Es war bereits das zweite Treffen in diesem Kreis, zu dem noch weitere interessierte Netzwerke gehören. Nach dem Auftakt im Dezember 2022 in Münster, Deutschland, ging es in Wien darum, die Form und die Potentiale dieser Zusammenarbeit weiter zu eruieren. Alle Beteiligten unterstrichen die Wichtigkeit dieser bildungsbereichsübergreifenden Vernetzung und den Willen unter dem vorläufigen Titel ‚EDU network‘ weiter zusammenzuarbeiten.

Daneben stand beim Treffen im winterlichen Wien der Austausch mit den evangelischen Kirchen Europas im Zentrum. Die Gruppe traf sich zu einem Gespräch mit Pfarrer Dr. Mario Fischer, dem Generalsekretär der Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa (GEKE), die 95 Kirchen repräsentiert, welche die Leuenberger Konkordie (1973) unterzeichnet haben.Der intensive Meinungs- und Informationsaustausch brachte einander näher und man vereinbarte, dass Vertreter:innen des EDU network bei der Generalversammlung 2024 in Sibiu (Rumänien) zu Gast sein sollen. Zudem will man Fragen religiöser Bildung und Erziehung künftig enger zusammenarbeiten. Daneben war auch die Frage nach der Interessenvertretung und Mitwirkung in der Arbeit des Europarats ein zentrales Thema. Die GEKE hatte dort in diesem Jahr erfolgreich den Status als internationale NGO beantragt.

Am 01./02. Dezember 2023 traf sich die CoGREE-Team in Wien. CoGREE bringt Verbände, Organisationen und Netzwerke zusammen, die sich mit Fragen von Religion in der Bildung beschäftigen. Als Vertreter:innen der Mitgliedsorganisationen (CEEC, EFTRE, EUFRES, ICCS, IV, PILGRIM) waren mit dabei: Piet Jansen (CoGREE Moderator), Michael Jacobs, Werner Haußmann, Bianca Kappelhoff, Margaretha Hackermeier, Michael Holzwieser, Sonja Danner und Louis-Marie Piron.

Neben verschiedenen Berichten und Geschäftsordnungspunkten reflektierte die Gruppe ihr aktuelles Selbstverständnis über 15 Jahre nach dem Gründungsstatement von 2007 und beschäftigte sich mit Zukunftsperspektiven von CoGREE (z.B. Nachfolgefomat Klingenthal). 

Der Dank am Ende der Tagung galt zum einen Michael Holzwieser für die Organisation und zum anderen Margaretha Hackermeier für ihr langjähriges Mitwirken, da sie im kommenden Jahr ihre hauptberufliche Tätigkeit beenden wird.

ICCS news:

Als Gastdelegierter von ICCS nahm Dr. Werner Haußmann an der Zusammenkunft des „European Christian Environmental Network“ (ECEN) vom 31.08-03.09.23 in Roskilde (Dänemark) teil und konnte sich dabei auch mit einem Grußwort an die etwa 80 Delegierten wenden, in dem er die Bedeutung von Erziehung – insbesondere religiöser Erziehung – für die Bemühungen um Nachhaltigkeit und Klimaschutz hervorhob.

Die Vertreter:innen verschiedenen Kirchen aus 25 Ländern, darunter auch Weißrussland und die Ukraine, beschäftigten sich dem Thesenpapier „Every Part of Creation matters“ der Konferenz Europäischer Kirchen (KEK), sowohl in Plenumsvorträgen und -diskussionen, wie auch in thematischen Workshops und der Erkundung nachhaltiger Projekte mit christlichem Hintergrund in Roskilde.

Man war sich schließlich einig, dass durch Bildung für eine nachhaltige Zukunft für alle Generationen innerhalb und außerhalb der Kirche es Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft geben kann. Gleichzeitig forderte man ein noch entschiedeneres Eintreten der Kirchen für die Bewahrung der Schöpfung und Klimagerechtigkeit, wozu Öko-Theologie einen wichtigen Beitrag leisten kann.

Weitere Informationen unter: https://www.ecen.org 

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ICCS news:

The international and interreligious conference – conducted by the Research Unit for Public Religion and Education (RUPRE) of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) – in cooperation with Religions for Peace (RfP) is scheduled as a three-day event from 30 September to 2 October 2024. It will take place in the facilities of the FAU in Nuremberg (Germany) with the option of online participation. Keynotes, presentations and workshops will be streamed live.

The conference aims at bringing together researchers with educators working in or with schools. It offers a combination of invited keynotes as well as papers and workshops that have been submitted on the basis of a call for papers. You can submit your proposals until the 15th February 2024.

The thematic focus of the conference is on ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) with an emphasis on ecological, environmental issues and their intersection with spiritual, religious or worldview perspectives. Similar educational approaches such as such as Climate Change Education, Ecological Education, Environmental Education, and Global Learning are also taken into account. 

The conference addresses these issues in regard to public education at schools and institutions of higher education.

Target groups are scholars, researchers, teachers, teacher trainers, religious leaders, politicians, stakeholders and members of NGOs, civil society as well as state organisations that are – directly or indirectly – involved in ESD.

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IV news:

Im Jahr 2024 planen wir wieder eine Studienreise für Schulleitungen und Bildungsexperten, um den fachlichen Austausch über nationale Grenzen hinweg zu fördern. Es soll diesmal nach Budapest gehen, wo die Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Ungarns nach dem Ende der kommunistischen Herrschaft mehrere Schulen neu gegründet oder aus staatlicher Trägerschaft wieder in kirchliche Trägerschaft übernommen hat. Formen der Zusammenarbeit evangelischer Schulen in Ungarn und Maßnahmen zur Gewinnung und Unterstützung von Führungskräften durch die Kirche sollen neben den Schulbesuchen im Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit stehen. Und die Stadt Budapest bietet natürlich reizvolle kulturelle und touristische Attraktionen. Unser Vorstandsmitglied Judit Hallgatóné ist dabei, ein interessantes Programm zusammenzustellen. Der Terminhat sich allerdings gegenüber der Ankündigung im IV-Jahresbericht geändert: 08.-11. Oktober 2024.

Unser neues Mitglied, die Association of Evangelical Schools in Slovakia (AESS) lädt vom 29. November – 01. Dezember 2024 zur Mitgliederversammlung des IV in die Slowakei ein. Der Ort wird entweder Presov, wo unser Vorstandsmitglied Marian Damankos das evangelische Gymnasium leitet, oder Bratislava sein. Der Themenschwerpunkt des begleitenden Studientags ist noch offen, Vorschläge nimmt der Vorstand gerne entgegen.

IV news:

In 2024, we are again planning a study trip for school leaders and education experts to promote professional exchange across national borders. This time, we will be travelling to Budapest, where the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hungary has re-founded several schools after the end of communist rule or has returned them from state responsibility to church responsibility. Forms of cooperation between Protestant schools in Hungary and measures to recruit and support leaders through the church will be at the centre of attention alongside the school visits. And the city of Budapest naturally offers attractive cultural and tourist attractions. Our board member Judit Hallgatóné is in the process of putting together an exciting programme. However, the date has changed compared to the announcement in the IV Annual Report: 8-11 October 2024.

Our new member, the Association of Evangelical Schools in Slovakia (AESS), invites you to the IV General Assembly in Slovakia from 29 November to 01 December 2024. The venue will be either Presov, where our board member Marian Damankos runs the Protestant grammar school, or Bratislava. The main topic of the accompanying study day is still open; the Board is happy to receive suggestions.

IV news:

Ca. 30 Personen aus acht europäischen Ländern kamen vom 2.-4. November im evangelischen Schulzentrum Cieszyn/Polen zur diesjährigen Mitgliederversammlung des IV zusammen. Sie stand unter dem Thema: “Erinnern für die Zukunft. Neue Wege der Holocaust-Erinnerung und der Bekämpfung von Antisemitismus in christlichen Schulen” und war am 3.11. mit einem Besuch der Gedenkstätte Auschwitz-Birkenau verbunden. Prof. Sonja Danner (Universität Wien) und Prof. Wilhelm Schwendemann (Evangelische Hochschule Freiburg), beide Mitglieder der Forschungsgruppe REMEMBERund an einer großen internationalen Studie zum Thema beteiligt, referierten zur Bedeutung von Gedenkstätten für Lernprozesse und zur Prävention von Antisemitismus als Aufgabe religiöser Bildung in Schulen. Angesichts des Krieges in Israel, der in vielen europäischen Ländern antisemitische Ressentiments wieder entfacht hat, gewann das Thema hohe Aktualität und Dringlichkeit, was in den engagierten Diskussionen auch zu spüren war. Umso wichtiger war es, dass neben dem bedrückenden Gedenkstättenbesuch auch Raum für Gespräche und persönlichen Austausch war. 

Ergänzt wurde das Programm der Tagung durch spannende Einblicke in die wechselvolle Geschichte Cieszyns an der Grenze zwischen Österreich-Ungarn, Tschechien und Polen, die uns Irena French, Leiterin des örtlichen Stadtmuseums, in Vortrag und Stadtführung vermittelte. Und am Freitagabend durften wir noch ein wunderbares Chorkonzert in der riesigen Jesuskirche genießen. Eine in jeder Hinsicht anregende und erlebnisreiche Tagung, für die wir unseren polnischen Gastgeberinnen Alexandra Trybus-Cieslar und Dagmara Jagucka-Mielke herzlich danken!

IV news:

Around 30 people from eight European countries gathered from 2-4 November at the Protestant School Centre in Cieszyn, Poland, for this year’s IV General Assembly. The theme of the meeting was: “Remembering for the future. New ways of remembering the Holocaust and combating anti-Semitism in Christian schools“. It was combined with a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site on 3 November. Prof Sonja Danner (University of Vienna) and Prof Wilhelm Schwendemann (Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg), both members of the REMEMBER research group and involved in a major international study on the topic, spoke about the importance of memorials for learning processes and the prevention of anti-Semitism as a task of religious education in schools. Given the war in Israel, which has sparked anti-Semitic resentment in many European countries, the topic has become highly relevant and urgent, which was also evident in the lively discussions. It was, therefore, all the more important that there was room for discussions and personal dialogue in addition to the depressing visit to the memorial site.

The conference programme was complemented by exciting insights into the eventful history of Cieszyn on the border between Austria-Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which Irena French, director of the local town museum, gave us in a lecture and guided tour of the town. And on Friday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful choir concert in the huge Jesus Church. A stimulating and eventful conference in every respect, for which we would like to thank our Polish hosts, Alexandra Trybus-Cieslar and Dagmara Jagucka-Mielke!

IV news:

At the IV conference in Cieszyn, the idea was also born to collect practical examples and concepts for combating anti-Semitism in schools from the circle of member associations and befriended organisations and to publish these contributions together with the lectures by Prof. Danner and Prof. Schwendemann in a book. All schools are currently facing the challenge of confronting the various forms of anti-Semitism that have become virulent in the wake of the war in Israel. It can be helpful to hear about examples from other schools and learn from them. The Executive Board would like to take up this idea and – possibly with financial support from the Barbara Schadeberg Foundation – make such a publication possible. It will contact IV members and other European associations in a suitable form, but ideas and suggestions are already welcome!

IV news:

Liebe ist wie die Sonne, sie ist immer und überall da (Benjamin Shield). Dieses Gefühl hatten die 19 Teilnehmerinnen, die an der viertägigen Fortbildung für bayerische und ungarische Kindergärtnerinnen teilnahmen, die im Rahmen der Zusammenarbeit der Lutherischen Kirchen Bayerns und Ungarns vom 15.-18.10.2023 in Passau stattfand – nun schon zum 21. Mal.

Diesmal ging es um Inklusion – Integration – Teilhabe – Vielfalt unter pädagogischen und theologischen Gesichtspunkten. Sigrid Schmidts, Referentin des Evangelischen KITA-Verbandes Bayern, und Pfarrerin Susanne Menzke, Mitarbeiterin des Religionspädagogischen Zentrums Heilsbronn führten in rechtliche und fachliche Aspekte inklusiver Bildung ein. Judit Hallgatóné Hajnal, ungarische Organisatorin des Treffens, erläuterte Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Sonderpädagogik in Ungarn. Und Frieder Harz, emeritierter Professor für Religionspädagogik, vertiefte das Thema durch die Arbeit an biblischen Heilungsgeschichten vor dem Hintergrund von Konflikten in der frühen Jerusalemer Gemeinde.

Eine Stadtbesichtigung der Drei-Flüsse-Stadt Passau und eine abendliche Darbietung der ungarischen Teilnehmerinnen mit selbstgebauten Puppen zu Andersons Märchen „Das hässliche Entlein“ ergänzten das fachliche Programm. Wie immer fand auch ein Kindergartenbesuch mit Erfahrungsaustausch vor Ort statt: Der Evangelische Kindergarten Ortenburg stellte sein offenes Konzept pädagogischer Arbeit in einem neuen Kindergartengebäude vor. Und da die örtliche Gemeinde gerade ihr 460-jähriges Bestehen feierte, konnte Pfarrerin Sabine Hofer im Festgottesdienst den Besuchern von der Geschichte der Kirche und der Bewahrung evangelischer Identität in einem katholischen Umfeld erzählen. Die Gäste bedankten sich mit Gesang und einem kleinen Konzert.

Beim nächsten Treffen im September 2024 in Würzburg wird man auf eine 30-jährige Zusammenarbeit der Lutherischen Kirchen Bayerns und Ungarns zurückblicken können.

IV news:

Love is like the sun; it is always and everywhere there (Benjamin Shield). This was the feeling of the 19 participants who took part in the four-day training course for Bavarian and Hungarian kindergarten teachers, which took place in Passau from 15-18 October 2023 as part of the cooperation between the Lutheran churches of Bavaria and Hungary – now for the 21st time.

This time, the focus was on inclusion – integration – participation – diversity from a pedagogical and theological perspective. Sigrid Schmidts, a speaker from the Evangelischer KITA-Verband Bayern (KITA: day-care centre for children), and Pastor Susanne Menzke, an employee of the Religious Education Centre Heilsbronn, introduced the legal and technical aspects of inclusive education. Judit Hallgatóné Hajnal, the Hungarian organiser of the meeting, explained the past and present of special needs education in Hungary. Frieder Harz, Professor Emeritus of Religious Education, delved deeper into the topic by working on biblical healing stories against conflicts in the early Jerusalem community.

A city tour of the three-river city of Passau and an evening performance by the Hungarian participants with self-made puppets based on Anderson’s fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” rounded off the specialist programme. As always, there was also a visit to the kindergarten with an exchange of experiences on site: The Ortenburg Protestant kindergarten presented its open concept of educational work in a new kindergarten building. As the local parish was celebrating its 460th anniversary, Pastor Sabine Hofer told the visitors about the church’s history and the preservation of Protestant identity in a Catholic environment during the festive service. The guests expressed their thanks with singing and a small concert.

At the next meeting in Würzburg in September 2024, the Lutheran churches of Bavaria and Hungary will be able to reflect on 30 years of cooperation.

IV news:

Erster gemeinsamer Bundeskongress deutscher Evangelischer und Katholischer Schulen in Europa in Aachen

In der Zeit vom 25. bis 27. September 2024 wird in Aachen der erste gemeinsame Bundeskongress Evangelischer und Katholischer Schulen stattfinden. Die bisherige Tradition der jeweils nach Konfessionen organisierten Bundeskongresse wird 2024 in einer gemeinsamen Veranstaltung fortgeführt. Die Stadt Aachen als Ort des BUKO, ganz im Westen Deutschlands gelegen, legt nahe, das Thema Europa in den Fokus zu nehmen. Gemeinsam und mit Unterstützung namhafter Referentinnen und Referenten aus den Kirchen, der Wissenschaft und der Politik wollen wir darüber nachdenken, wie das bekannte Motto christlicher Schulen leben. lernen. glauben in europäischer Perspektive klingt und was sich daraus an Herausforderungen, Chancen und Aufgaben für unsere Alltagsarbeit ergibt.

Zu den Veranstaltungen im Plenum wird es jeweils Gesprächsmöglichkeiten zum Austausch und zur Vertiefung geben, organisiert als World Cafe oder in Workshops. Bei diesen wird es auch um best practice-Beispiele und weitere praktische Anregungen für die tägliche pädagogische Arbeit gehen. Das soll auch im Vordergrund der an einem Vormittag angebotenen Schulbesuche in Aachen und Umgebung, einschließlich dem Grenzraum zu Belgien und den Niederlanden, stehen. Die christlichen Schulen können und dürfen sich, wenn sie ihre gesellschaftliche Verantwortung ernst nehmen, beim Thema Europa nicht heraushalten. Und zwar unabhängig davon, in welchem Land gerade eine populistische, in aller Regel europakritische bis -feindliche Partei auf dem Vormarsch ist.

Wir rechnen mit ca. 250 bis max. 300 Teilnehmenden – Schulleitungen, Lehrkräfte, für Bildung und Erziehung in den Kirchen Verantwortliche. Ort der Veranstaltung ist die katholische City-Kirche und die St. Ursula-Schule in Aachen. Verantwortlich zeichnen Beauftragte der EKD und der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz sowie Vorbereitungsgruppen mit zahlreichen Mitgliedern aus den Ortskirchen (Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland und Bistum Aachen). Die Vorbereitungsgruppe für den BUKO wird das komplette Programm im Februar/März kommenden Jahres veröffentlichen. Anmeldungen können dann über ein Internettool vorgenommen werden.

Michael Schopp

(für die AGES in der Vorbereitungsgruppe)

IV news:

The first joint national congress of German Protestant and Catholic schools in Europe (BUKO) in Aachen

From 25 to 27 September 2024, the first joint national congress of Protestant and Catholic schools will occur in Aachen. The previous tradition of federal congresses organised by denomination will be continued in a joint event in 2024. The city of Aachen, situated in the very west of Germany, as the location of the BUKO, suggests focussing on Europe. Together and with the support of renowned speakers from the churches, academia and politics, we want to reflect on how the well-known motto of Christian schools: “live, learn and believe”, sounds from a European perspective and what challenges, opportunities and tasks arise from this for our everyday work.

In addition to the plenary events, there will be opportunities for exchange and in-depth discussions, organised as World Cafés or in workshops. These will also focus on best practice examples and practical suggestions for day-to-day educational work. This will also focus on the one-morning school visits in Aachen and the surrounding area, including the border region with Belgium and the Netherlands. If they take their social responsibility seriously, Christian schools cannot and must not ignore the topic of Europe. Regardless of the country in which a populist, generally Eurosceptic or even anti-European party is currently on the rise.

We are expecting around 250 to a maximum of 300 participants – school principals, teachers and those responsible for education and upbringing in the churches. The event will occur at the Catholic City Church and St Ursula School in Aachen. Representatives of the EKD and the German Bishops’ Conference and preparatory groups, along with numerous members from the local churches (Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and the Diocese of Aachen), are responsible for the event. The preparatory group for the BUKO will publish the complete programme in February/March next year. Registrations can then be made via an internet tool.

Michael Schopp

(for the AGES in the preparatory group)

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

At the conference taking place in Rome in August 2023, EFTRE elected a new chair for its organisation. Bert Roebben is professor of Religious Education at the at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Bonn. He is passionate about teaching and researching learning processes in the field of religions and worldviews in a European context. In his blogbpost, he shares his reflections about the challenges and opportunities EFTRE faces in the Europe we live in today. The EFTRE family is grateful to welcome such a motivated and passionate RE expert as its leader.

Students are entitled to “grow in shared humanity”, based on particular religious and non-religious narratives of hope and healing. Classroom teachers are their examples in meaning giving, their generators of hope, their “wounded healers”. They deserve all respect and support.

– Bert Roebben, chair

EFTRE news:

A new group of family members has taken over the leadership of EFTRE. The conference in Rome in August 2023 was also the place and time for the regular General Assembly of the Forum, which is electing the members of the board and the executive, the steering bodies of EFTRE.

Executive

For the executive, the election was eagerly awaited as two long-standing members – Lesley Prior (England) as chair and Elisabeth Faber (Denmark) as Secretary – announced to step down from their duties. The EFTRE community thanked them with deep gratitude for their dedication and hard work. It was with great pleasure that the members elected Bert Roebben from Germany/Belgium as new chair and Tuomas Anttila from Finland as new Secretary. Lesley and Elisabeth are continuing to serve as regular members of the executive as do Hugo Verkest (Belgium), Marios Koukounaras Liagkis (Greece), Norman Richardson (Northern Ireland), and Bianca Kappelhoff (Germany).

Board

Many previous members of the board showed willingness to go on with this role for the next term of office. Members were happy to welcome a new board member for the Ukraine, Kateryna Buchko. Together with Olga Schihalejev, board member from Estonia, she also volunteered to take part in the communication team of EFTRE, coordinated by executive member Bianca Kappelhoff.

All members of the board and the executive are elected until the next General Assembly, which will take place at the next Conference planned for 2025.

EFTRE news:

A fan,  a good mood and a lot of expertise made the conference of the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE) in cooperation with Snadir (Italian teachers’ association) from 24-27 August 2023 a special experience. Teachers of religion and religious educators from schools, associations and universities from all over Europe gathered in Rome at almost 38°C to exchange ideas on the topic of “Bridges Over Troubled Waters – RE in Changing Times”. How can we build bridges in and through religious education? What is needed at each end of the bridges?

A rich programme of keynotes, workshops and excursions on site encouraged reflections. Right at the beginning, the presentation by Maria Raspatelli, Winner of the Global Teacher Award, provided inspiration, motivation and an image as to what constitutes good learning in Religious education.

Questions about the basic understanding of RE after the pandemic experiences, the contribution of RE to democratic school life and religious tolerance and how to deal with controversial topics, especially, in times of the ongoing war in Europe against Ukraine – all these questions and much more were discussed and practical approaches presented. The conference always came back to the question: How can religious education create dialogue and connections and thus build bridges? How can RE teachers be “hope generators” in times of massive insecurity and fear?   All participants contributed their expertise and experiences from their countries and exchanged views on current developments, RE models and didactic ideas. The participants praised the open and convivial atmosphere, which facilitated profitable learning. A special highlight was the conference dinner under the open sky in the courtyard of the historical buildings of Link Campus University.

A comprehensive documentation of the conference is available on the EFTRE website. Presentations of the keynote speeches, materials from the workshops, a photo gallery and a summary of the entire conference are openly accessible. In addition, short video summaries of the conference days are available on the Snadir youtube channel.

PILGRIM news:

PILGRIM news:

ICCS news:

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) has elected new leaders during its General Assembly 2023 in Tallinn, Estonia: H.E. Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been elected as president, and Rt Rev. Dr Dagmar Winter, Church of England, and Rev. Frank Kopania, Protestant Church in Germany, have been elected as vice presidents. Along with another 17 elected people from Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches in Europe they now form the governing board of CEC until 2028.

Three hundred representatives from 113 member churches plus 40 national councils of churches and organisations in partnership met under the theme “Under God’s blessing – shaping the future” from 14 to 20 June 2023 in a unique building of Tallinn, a former power plant, which now is a stylish creative center. Six days of discussing, praying, singing and coming together from various Christian traditions brought an intense experience of Christian fellowship. Bianca Kappelhoff and Michael Jacobs participated as representatives of ICCS and IV, which are both official organisations in partnership of CEC.

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ICCS news:

The Conference of INGOs (CINGO) held its annual spring session in hybrid format on 24-26 April 2023. An exchange of views with Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić and the adoption of the INGO Conference Recommendation to the Council of Europe Heads of State Summit in Reykjavik on 16-17 May 2023 were the highlights of the meeting.

In the field of education, decisions were taken that underline the importance of political concerns in this area. On the one hand, the mandate of the committee “Education for Democracy” was renewed, which is particularly committed to linking non-formal and formal democratic education as well as paying special attention to the inclusion of vulnerable groups. The Committee for Interreligious and Interfaith Dialogue was also unanimously confirmed for another year.

Recommendations of the conference are not binding, but are perceived as an important contribution of civil society by the other bodies of the Council of Europe.

Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik

It is only the fourth summit of the Council of Europe, which took place in Reykjavik on 16 and 17 May under the presidency of Iceland. A clear signal under the impression of the Russian attack on Ukraine (Ukraine is a member of the Council of Europe, Russia was excluded in February 2022) is the decision to establish a damage register for Ukraine. This is a first step towards an international compensation mechanism for the victims of Russian aggression. Although there are still some unanswered questions regarding the concrete implementation and consequences , it is an important instrument to bring accountability claims of behaviour contrary to international law to bear.

It is also noteworthy that in Annex V of the Final Declaration, which explicitly addresses the Council of Europe’s responsibility for the environment, the vital role of NGOs and religious communities is explicitly emphasised here  – and only here – when it comes to environmental issues. This is certainly due to the fact that religiously inspired INGOs, including the Conference of European Churches, have been advocating the active participation of religious organisations for years, not least through the Committee for Interreligious and Interconfessional Dialogue .

Sören Lenz, Strasbourg Office KKR/CPCE

Header photo: @Council of Europe/Sandro Weltin

[1] NGO= Non-Governmental Organisations; NHRI=National Human Rights Institutions

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ICCS news:

Die Konferenz der INGOs (CINGO) hielt ihre jährliche Frühjahrstagung am 24. und 26. April 2023 im Hybridformat ab. Ein Meinungsaustausch mit Generalsekretärin Marija Pejčinović Burić und die Verabschiedung der Empfehlung der INGO-Konferenz an das Gipfeltreffen der Staatsoberhäupter des Europarats am 16. und 17. Mai 2023 in Reykjavik bildeten die Höhepunkte der Sitzung.

Für den Bildungsbereich wurden richtungsweisende Entscheidungen getroffen, die die Wichtigkeit der politischen Anliegen in diesem Bereich unterstreichen. So wurde einerseits das das Mandat des Komites „Bildung für Demokratie“ erneuert, welches sich besonders für eine Verknüpfung von nicht-formaler und formaler demokratischer Bildung sowie die besondere Beachtung der Einbeziehung gefährdete Gruppen einsetzt. Auch das Komitee für interreligiösen und interreligiösen Dialog wurde für ein weiteres Jahr einstimmig bestätigt.

Empfehlungen der Konferenz sind nicht bindend, werden aber als wichtiger Beitrag der Zivilgesellschaft von den anderen Organen des Europarats wahrgenommen.

Europarat Gipfel in Reykjavik

Es ist erst der vierte Gipfel des Europarates, der am 16. und 17. Mai unter der Präsidentschaft Islands in Reykjavik stattfand. Ein klares Signal unter dem Eindruck des russischen Angriffs auf die Ukraine (Ukraine ist Mitglied des Europarates, Russland wurde im Februar 2022 ausgeschlossen) ist die Entscheidung ein Schadensregister für die Ukraine aufzubauen. Damit wird ein erster Schritt zu einem internationalen Entschädigungsmechanismus für die Opfer der russischen Aggression getan. Obwohl hinsichtlich der Umsetzung noch einige Fragen hinsichtlich der konkreten Umsetzung und der Konsequenzen offen sind, stellt es ein wichtiges Instrument dar, um Rechenschaftsforderungen völkerrechtswidrigen Verhaltens zur Geltung zu bringen.

Bemerkenswert ist noch, dass in Anhang V der Abschlusserklärung, die sich explizit mit der Verantwortung des Europarates für die Umwelt auseinandersetzt, die vitale Rolle von u.a. NGOs und religiösen Gemeinschaften – und nur hier – explizit hervorgehoben wird, wenn es um Umweltschutzproblematiken geht. Sicherlich ist dies dem Umstand zu verdanken, dass religiös inspirierte INGOs, darunter auch die Konferenz europäischer Kirchen, sich schon seit Jahren für eine aktive Mitarbeit religiöser Organisationen einsetzen, nicht zuletzt durch das Komitee für Interreligiösen und Interkonviktionellen Dialog.

Sören Lenz, Strasbourg Büro KKR/CPCE

Header photo: @Council of Europe/Sandro Weltin

[1] NRO= Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen; NMRI=Nationale Menschenrechtsinstitutionen

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IV news:

Cieszyn, Poland

Unsere polnischen Freunde laden uns in diesem Jahr zur Mitgliederversammlung nach Cieszyn in Südpolen ein, an der Grenze zu Tschechien. Darüber freuen wir uns sehr und werden in diesem Zusammenhang ein besonderes Thema bearbeiten. Da Cieszyn nur 70 km von der Gedenkstätte Auschwitz-Birkenau entfernt liegt, planen wir eine pädagogische Studientagung zum Thema: “Erinnern für die Zukunft. Neue Wege der Holocaust Education und der Bekämpfung von Antisemitismus in christlichen Schulen Europas”. Dazu haben wir ausgewiesene Experten gewinnen können: Prof. Sonja Danner (Univerität Wien) und Prof. Wilhelm Schwendemann (Ev. Hochschule Freiburg) waren beide beteiligt an einer großen internationalen Studie mit 1200 Religionslehrkräften zur Holocaust-Erinnerung im Religionsunterricht. Wir werden im Rahmen der Tagung die Gedenkstätte auch besuchen und deshalb einen Tag länger als sonst zusammenkommen: vom 2.-5. November 2023. Einladung und Programm dieser besonderen Tagung werden noch vor der Sommerpause verschickt, da die Namen der Besuchergruppe 90 Tage vorher der Gedenkstätte mitgeteilt werden müssen. Wir hoffen auf zahlreiche Beteiligung, sowohl von IV-Mitgliedern als auch von interessierten Nichtmitgliedern!

IV news:

Cieszyn, Poland

This year our Polish friends invite us to Cieszyn in the South of Poland, near the Czech border, for our General Assembly. We appreciate it very much and will work on a special topic in this context. As Cieszyn is just 70 km away from the memorial of Auschwitz-Birkenau, we are preparing a pedagogical symposium on the topic: “Remembrance for the Future. New Ways of Holocaust Education and Combating Antisemitism in Christian Schools in Europe”. For this, we have found proven experts: Prof. Sonja Danner (University of Vienna) and Prof. Wilhelm Schwendemann (Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg) were both involved in an international research project on Holocaust education with 1200 teachers of Religious Education. We will also visit the memorial site during the symposium. Therefore, we will be together for one day longer than usual: from 2nd to 5th November 2023. The invitation and program of this special event will be sent before the summer break in order to communicate the names of the visitors’ group 90 days in advance, as required by the memorial. We hope for numerous participation, by IV-members as well as non-members!

IV news:

European Meeting of Independent Education

Das jährliche EMIE-Treffen im Jahr 2023 fand im Gebäude des Europäischen Parlaments in Brüssel statt. Ziel der Treffen ist es, die Kommunikation und den Austausch bewährter Verfahren zwischen den europäischen Akteuren zu fördern. Darüber hinaus setzen sich diese Akteure gemeinsam für die Freiheit der Bildung und die Freiheit der elterlichen Entscheidung als Grundrechte der Bürger der Europäischen Union ein.

Das Thema des diesjährigen Treffens war: “Der Beitrag der freien Schulen zu Engagement, Wohlbefinden und Erfolg für alle”. Ein zentraler Teil der Tagung war einer Fallstudie gewidmet: Tschechische Schulen in freier Trägerschaft von Jakub Dvořak, Direktor einer Förderschule.

Michael Jacobs und Piet Jansen vertraten den IV und Annika Kastner vertrat die GPENreformation/EKD.

IV news:

European Meeting of Independent Education

The annual EMIE meeting in 2023 took place in the building of the European Parliament. The meetings aim to enhance communication and sharing of good practices from European stakeholders. Furthermore, those stakeholders cooperate in advocating the Freedom of Education and the Freedom of Parental Choice as fundamental rights of the citizens of the European Union.

The subject of this year’s meeting was: “Contribution of independent schools to engagement, well-being and achievement for all”. A central part in the meeting was given to a case study: Czech independent schools by Jakub Dvořak, director of a school for children with special needs.

Michael Jacobs and Piet Jansen represented IV, and Annika Kastner represented the GPENreformation/EKD.

PILGRIM news:

PILGRIM news:

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PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

The IRENE project for the development of religious education was launched in December 2020, in the wake of the pandemic. The project is part of the EU’s Erasmus+ program. The name of the project network, IRENE, is an abbreviation of its English project description “Innovative Religious Education Network: educating to the religious diversity.”

Among the goals, there have been to facilitate the exchange of experiences, transfer of knowledge and innovative methods in religious education, increase digital, social, and multicultural skills of participants, and create strategic partnerships and real cooperation among the partners of the project.

The project is led by the NGO Asociatia Vasiliada from Craiova, Romania. Other partners include the University of Eastern Finland, the Istituto di Studi Ecumenici San Bernardino della Provincia Sant’Antonio dei Frati Minori in Venice, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Fondatsiya za Regionalno Razvitie in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Institute of Tallinn.

The IRENE project is aimed at religious education teachers, theologians, and clergy.  It does not focus solely on the development of school education. According to the participating countries, the project will focus on the study and development of religious education and upbringing in both the school and ecclesial contexts.

As a result of the project, several teaching and training materials have been produced online in the language of each country and have been used to compile, for example, a Training Guide (https://irene-project.isevenezia.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Training-Guide.pdf). Finnish and Estonian partners carried out a comparative study on the implementation of religious education in the partner countries (https://irene-project.isevenezia.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IO1-IRENE-Comparative-Study-FINAL.pdf). There are also several videos dealing with religious education in partner countries, religious diversity and multiculturism topics, and pedagogical issues (https://irene-project.isevenezia.it/en/materiale-comune/ ). The project will end in April 2023. At the University of Eastern Finland, the project has been coordinated by Risto Aikonen, lecturer in the pedagogy of Orthodox religion at the Department of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, who is a member of the EFTRE board. – RA.

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

Bridges over Troubled Waters – RE in changing times

This Conference is taking place in Rome 24th -27th of August in 2023. It isan opportunity for academics, practitioners and others interested in the education of teachers of religious education or in the teaching of religious education across Europe. Each Conference has a local and an international dimension exploring the religious practices and teaching of the place where the Conference is situated as well as exploring wider themes. 

At the EFTRE conference, together we are looking for safe bridges to find a path into a brighter future. You will have opportunities to analyse how RE can and must adapt to this new scenery in contemporary European societies. Insightful keynotes and practical workshops will enable you to consider how RE might offer a context in which children and young people can reflect on what it means to take their place within this complex world. Visits to local organisations and sites in Rome complete the conference programme.

Registration and the conference program: https://eftre.net/conference-in-rome-2023-15th/

ICCS news:

ICCS, together with its partner, the IV, has just published the latest issue of its newsletter. In this rich issue you can read more about the IV General Assembly, the study trip of several school leaders to the Netherlands and the résumé of the Thematic Group, whose mandate ended earlier than expected due to the closure of the CEC Office for Education in Strasburg.

To everyone’s delight several meetings could again take place in person: the ICCS Board meeting, the Bavarian-Hungarian Kindergarten meeting in Györ, the Schadeberg Lectures in Rostock, where three schools received awards, the European networking event on education in Münster and the EFTRE Board meeting in Rome, where the planning of next year’s EFTRE conference was advanced.

Furthermore, there is an interesting interview with Louis-Marie Piron, CEEC’s new Secretary General, and an article on the celebration of PILGRIM’s 20th anniversary. The SchoolCoPe project has produced what it calls an “Edumap” and for teachers an e-book on peace education, and the Committee on Interreligious and Interconfessional Dialogue has offered a webinar on “Self-awareness as a key,” with more webinars to follow.

Enjoy reading!

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“Building bridges over troubled waters – RE in changing times.” So heißt das Thema der nächsten Konferenz von EFTRE (European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education), die vom 24. bis 27. August 2023 stattfindet. Der geschäftsführende Vorstand von EFTRE steckt mitten in den Vorbereitungen und konnte sich im November 2022 erstmalig nach 3 Jahren wieder in Präsenz treffen. In Rom wurden sie von ihrer italienischen Mitgliedsorganisation SNADIR (Verband der Religionslehrkräfte in Italien) und dessen Geschäftsführer Orazio Ruscica herzlich in Empfang genommen. Mit der Link Campus Universität wurde ein wunderschöner Ort mitten in Rom gefunden, der sowohl Religionslehrkräfte, als auch Aus-/Fortbilder:innen und Wissenschaftler:innen aus der Religionspädagogik einlädt, miteinander zu lernen, zu essen und zu trinken und sich auszutauschen.

Weitere Informationen zum Veranstaltungsort sowie zum Programm und Anmeldung finden Sie in Kürze hier.

EFTRE news:

“Building bridges over troubled waters – RE in changing times.” This is the theme of the next EFTRE conference, which will take place from 24 to 27 August 2023. The Executive Board of EFTRE is in the middle of preparations and was able to meet in presence in November 2022 for the first time after 3 years.

In Rome, they were warmly welcomed by their Italian member organisation SNADIR (Association of Teachers of Religion in Italy) and its Executive Director Orazio Ruscica. With the Link Campus University, a beautiful location was found in the centre of Rome that invites teachers, teacher trainers as well as researchers of religious education to learn together, to share meals and exchange with each other.

More information about the venue, the programme and registration will be available soon.

ICCS news:

Since spring 2021, a Committee on Interreligious and Interconvictional Dialogue has taken up its work at the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations at the Council of Europe. [1] “Self-awareness as the key to intercultural and interreligious understanding” was the topic of a webinar organised by the Committee in October this year. 

Without self-awareness – why we do what we do, why we say what we say, and why we believe what we believe – it is difficult to understand the perspective of others. Self-awareness promotes a deeper understanding of our own conditioning and helps us to empathise more deeply with ourselves and others. This fosters the breaking down ideological barriers and building bridges as we learn to accept and appreciate those who are different from us. Through self-knowledge, we see the person in the other and do not stick to external aspects. A strengthened self-confidence also strengthens the self-confidence of others. Through deepened self-awareness, a broader view opens to accept things around us more fully and comprehensively and to face critical situations more freely and empathetically. Improved self-awareness leads to human, cultural and spiritual connectedness and constructive interactions with others for the benefit of the whole community. That education, following the humanistic tradition, is also “heart education” became clear in the educational programmes presented at the webinar with very different religious backgrounds.

Victoria Coleman, psychologist, presented the Foundation for Development of Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW):  The programme, which originated from Buddhist spirituality, is based on individual experience (experienced compassion and care) as well as on guiding criteria (ethics) that are seen less as rules to be followed, but rather as principles of self-restraint that have the well-being of others in mind.

In the Buddhist tradition of self-development of the mind, this programme, based on 16 guidelines, tries to teach such practices. The “16 Guidelines” programme has, for example, been approved by the Israeli government for use in schools and is also being tried out in schools in other countries. 

Kassim Mohamed Addan (TUSMO) from Bergen, Norway, reported on his experiences in the field of educational work with families with a migrant background. He is a senior hospital pharmacist, founder and chair of the executive committee of TUSMO, a national association working in the field of social integration of Somali migrants in Norway. This programme is about understanding the gap between generations of migrant families and facilitating fruitful dialogue within the family. In dialogue seminars, participants deal with the expectations, fears and disappointments of the other generation. The basis is to create spaces of trust (save havens) in order to learn to understand their own problems as well as those of the other generation.

Kari Flornes (GERFEC), an educational scientist from Norway and President of GERFEC [2] since 2017, also brought her many years of experience in the field into the discussion. She emphasised that especially in education with an intercultural context, it is essential to first learn to perceive oneself. Thus, for the GERFEC initiative, in which she has been involved for years, empathy is at the centre of the intercultural education concept. Besides the creation of “safe spaces”, it is above all the development of competences for empathic communication that GERFEC sees as key to successful intercultural dialogue.

This was already the second webinar of the interreligious and interconvictional dialogue committee and probably not the last. Further events are already being planned regarding issues in the context of migration and the controversial question of gender equality and gender issues, especially in religious communities.

Sören Lenz

[1] The neologism “interconvictional” is understood in the circle of French-speaking NGOs as a functional term to include humanistic worldviews in the dialogue. It is understood as a complementary term to “interreligiousness,” but it is known only in the French-speaking world. It remains to be seen to what extent it will be able to establish itself.

[2] GERFEC (Groupementd’Étude et de Recherche pour la Formation des Enseignants Chrétien) European Group for research and training of teachers, holding Christian and other beliefs and convictions, based in Bergen, Norway.

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ICCS news:

By the end of January 2023, it will be final: the Strasburg office of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) will close its doors. This is a decisive cut for education as the Strasburg office has traditionally been the one responsible for this field. The two staff members currently located in Strasburg will end their work for CEC. It remains unclear at this moment to which extent the topic of education will be part of CEC’s portfolio in the future. The closing of the Strasburg office is part of a larger restructuration process undertaken by CEC. Further decisions are expected to be made by the General Assembly, coming together in Tallin on 14 – 20 June 2023.

In the past three years, an important task of the Strasburg office was the coordination and the support of two Thematic groups, one of them on ‘education, democracy and diversity’. These groups are now also coming to an early end.

Read more about the reflections of the Thematic group on education.

Furthermore, the staff of the Strasburg office has been responsible for taking part in activities and groups of the Council of Europe. There, CEC is registered as NGO and has an observatory status in the education committee. Only last year, Sören Lenz, CEC executive secretary in Strasburg, initiated a new committee on interreligious and interconvictional dialogue, which has been focusing on education programmes in this area.

Read more about the Committee on interreligious and interconvictional dialogue.

How the Brussels office of CEC can continue this important work of interest representation remains to be seen. ICCS and other organisations in partnership with CEC, which are working in the field of education, seek contact with those responsible for the restructuration to discuss future possibilities.

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“Warum haben wir das nicht schon früher gemacht?” Dies war die Reaktion eines Teilnehmers an der europäischen Netzwerkveranstaltung zum Thema Bildung, die am 2. Dezember 2022 in Münster (Deutschland) stattfand. Zum ersten Mal kamen elf europäische Organisationen, die im Bereich Bildung tätig sind, zusammen, um gemeinsame Interessen zu erkunden. Schnell wurde klar: Wir haben viele Gemeinsamkeiten!

Nach der Vorstellungsrunde der Organisationen kristallisierten sich bereits erste Knotenpunkte heraus, die sie zu einem noch stärkeren Netz zusammenwachsen lassen könnten. Die zusammen gekommenen Elf schauten sich vier Bereiche näher an: Zielgruppen, Aktivitäten, Themen und Herausforderungen. Und obwohl einige Organisationen im Bereich von Religionsunterricht arbeiten, andere in der Erwachsenenbildung und wieder andere mit Kindern in Gemeinden oder an christlichen Schulen, traten ähnliche Interessen zutage. Das Resümee dieses ersten Versuches war einhellig positiv und es wurde vereinbart, den Austausch zu den identifizierten Punkten gemeinsamen Interesses fortzusetzen. Der Abend klang dann mit einem heißen Glühwein auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt und einem gemeinsamen Abendessen aus.

Beteiligte Organisationen:

ICCS news:

“Working together in this Thematic Group has been very important to us all. It allowed for dialogue with colleagues from all parts of Europe, from Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican and ecumenical backgrounds. In our world today characterised by so much divisiveness and so much violent opposition, it is especially welcome to find a safe space to hear and listen to one another. We cherish this dialogue very much.” This is how the members of the Thematic Group on Education, democracy and diversity summarise their experience. For almost three years, the members of the group by the Conference of European Churches worked together. Among them was also Bianca Kappelhoff, who was mandated into the group by ICCS, which holds the status of an organisation in partnership in CEC. In a video statement the members emphasize what they valued most about their common work: building a safe space for meaningful discussions, gaining new perspectives, building a network of Christian professionals across Europe to only name a few. Content wise, their work covered areas from populism, peace education to (inter)religious learning and learning in diversity.

The common work was particularly challenging because due to Covid-19 during the first two years meetings could only take place online until the group met for the first time face to face this spring. Nevertheless, all group members draw positive conclusions. One development though, that casts a cloud over this encouraging summary, is that CEC decided to end the group’s mandate half a year earlier than planned due to its restructuration process. This restructuration process foresees the closure of the Strasburg office by the end of 2022, the one responsible for the TG and its topic until now. Therefore, the members of the Thematic group are worried about the future consideration of education in CEC work. As final outcome, the group will communicate recommendations on this matter to the Governing Board and the General Assembly of CEC. “I very much hope that our experiences as Thematic Group will be taken into account”, underlines Bianca Kappelhoff. “Education is at the heart of our Churches and has an important part to play ecumenical work.” ICCS values very much the possibilities of mutual encounter and enrichment in CEC and hopes to continue contributing to this work in the future.

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“We must remember even if there will always be people looking to cause division and inflict violence, many will still choose peace and compassion at any cost, even their own lives.” Mit diesem starken, von Schüler:innen aus Ungarn verfassten Fazit zur Bekämpfung von Spaltung und Gewalt durch Frieden und Mitgefühl endet eine der Touren, die Orte mit besonderer Bedeutung für Frieden und Konflikt rund um den Globus digital erlebbar machen. Die online erkundbare Karte ist eins der Ergebnisse des Ende August 2022 zu Ende gegangenen Erasmus+ Projekts „Schools joining up for communities of Peace“ (kurz SchoolCoPe), das von dem weltweiten Netzwerk evangelischer Schule GPENreformation geleitet wurde. In diesem Projekt sind Schüler:innen und Lehrkräfte aus sechs Ländern zusammen gekommen, um sich über das Thema Frieden in ihrer jeweiligen Heimat und überall auf der Welt auszutauschen. Diese Reflektionen zum Thema Frieden und Konflikt spiegeln auch die nun fertig gestellten digitalen Touren wider, die u.a. die Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, ein Zentrum für Geflüchtete der Malteser in Ungarn sowie eine Internatsschule in Michelbach in Deutschland digital begehbar machen. Die Schüler:innen der teilnehmenden evangelischen Schulen aus Irland, Deutschland, der Slowakei und Ungarn haben diese Orte selbst ausgesucht und die Touren gestaltet.

Auf der so entstandenen sogenannten „Edumap” können sich nun weitere christliche Schulen oder andere Gruppen auf innovative Weise mit dem Thema Frieden beschäftigen. Entweder indem sie die Touren erkunden und so Orte von Frieden und Konflikt in anderen Regionen und Ländern der Welt digital bereisen oder indem sie selbst eine solche Tour für einen Ort ihrer Wahl erarbeiten.

Für letzteres können Lehrkräfte von einem Handbuch profitieren, das gemeinsam von den am Projekt beteiligten Schüler:innen, Lehrer:innen und Expert:innen konzipiert und erarbeitet wurde. Dieses E-Book steht sowohl als Online-Version als auch zum Download auf der Seite von GPENreformation bereit. Das E-Book besteht aus einem Hauptkapitel mit einer Anleitung zur Erstellung einer digitalen Tour und drei ergänzenden Inhaltskapiteln zu den Themen Friedenspädagogik, Religion und Weltanschauungen sowie Digitalisierung. Dabei können Lehrkräfte dieses Handbuch zum Selbstlernen und Fortbilden nutzen, es finden sich darin aber auch Materialien und Lernaktivitäten, die für den direkten Einsatz im Unterricht mit Schüler:innen geeignet sind. In allen Kapiteln können die Themen über verschiedene Medien wie Videos, Audio-Input oder Textmaterial erschlossen werden. Darüber hinaus ist das Handbuch in mehreren Sprachen erhältlich (Englisch, Deutsch, Französisch, Spanisch, Niederländisch, Slowakisch, Ungarisch). So kann dieses Projekt auch auf einfache Art und Weise gemeinsam mit einer Partnerschule im Ausland umgesetzt werden – so wie auch im Ursprungsprojekt „Schools joining up for Peace“. In aktuellen Kriegs- und Krisenzeiten eine Begegnung von unschätzbarem Wert.

IV news:

In the third attempt after 2020 and 2021, the General Assembly of IV could finally take place in Riga/Latvia from November 4-6. About 30 people from 12 European countries were happy to meet at the Catholic High School in Riga and to exchange ideas on how Christian schools can accompany children and young people in this time of crisis and war in such a way that they dare hope and keep confidence. Prof. Dr. Henning Schluss, educational scientist at the University of Vienna, focused in his lecture on the challenges posed by global climate change. Dr. Gerdien Bertram-Troost, Professor of RE at the Free University of Amsterdam, asked about the tasks of Christian schools in a “low-trust society”. After these two main lectures, Bianca Kappelhoff from the Comenius Institute in Münster demonstrated in a workshop the possibilities of using a “digital peace map”, which was created in the framework of the ErasmusPlus project “Schools joining up for Communities of Peace”. The dense and intensive study day was concluded with two film reports on the schooling of Ukrainian refugee children in Hungary and Slovakia, contributed by the two board members Judit Hallgátoné and Marián Damankoš. 

The statutory part of the AMV dealt with the usual formalities: Annual Report 2022 and Annual Plan 2023, Financial Reports 2021/22 and Financial Plan 2023. In addition, president Piet Jansen (Netherlands) was confirmed in office for another four years, as well as Marián Damankoš (Slovakia) as a board member. A cultural program consisting of a musical welcome and presentation of the school on Friday evening and a visit to the Latvian National Library and the Riga Art Nouveau Quarter on Sunday morning rounded off the program. The participants experienced an extremely successful meeting. We thank Anna Jermakoviča,  principal of the Catholic High School, for her great hospitality, and Zbignevs Stankevičs, the Archbishop of Riga, for his prayer of blessing in the ecumenical spirit on Saturday morning!

IV news:

Im dritten Anlauf nach 2020 und 2021 konnte nun die Mitgliederversammlung des IV endlich vom 4.-6. November in Riga/Lettland stattfinden. Ca. 30 Personen aus 12 europäischen Ländern freuten sich, im Katholischen Gymnasium Riga zusammenkommen zu können und sich darüber auszutauschen, wie christliche Schulen in dieser Krisen- und Kriegszeit Kinder und Jugendliche so begleiten können, dass sie Hoffnung wagen und Zuversicht bewahren. Prof. Dr. Henning Schluss, Erziehungswissenschaftler an der Universität Wien, konzentrierte sich in seinem Vortrag auf die Herausforderungen durch die globale Klimaveränderung, und Prof. Dr. Gerdien Bertram-Troost, Religionspädagogin an der Freien Universität Amsterdam, fragte nach den Aufgaben christlicher Schulen in einer “low trust society”. Nach diesen beiden Hauptvorträgen zeigte Bianca Kappelhoff vom Comenius-Institut in Münster in einem Workshop die Nutzungsmöglichkeiten einer “digitalen Friedenslandkarte”, die im Rahmen des ErasmusPlus-Projekts “Schools joining up for Communities of Peace” entstanden ist. Den Abschluss des dichten und intensiven Studientages bildeten zwei Filmberichte über die Beschulung ukrainischer Flüchtlingskinder in Ungarn und der Slowakei, die von den beiden Vorstandsmitgliedern Judit Hallgátoné und Marián Damankoš beigesteuert wurden. 

Im satzungsgemäßen Teil der AMV wurden die üblichen Formalia verhandelt: Jahresbericht 2022 und Jahresplanung 2023, Finanzberichte 2021/22 und Finanzplanung 2023. Präsident Piet Jansen (Niederlande) wurde für weitere vier Jahre im Amt bestätigt, ebenso Marián Damankoš (Slowakei) als Vorstandsmitglied. Ein kulturelles Rahmenprogramm aus musikalischer Begrüßung und Präsentation der Schule am Freitagabend sowie ein Besuch der lettischen Nationalbibliothek und des Rigaer Jugendstilviertels am Sonntagvormittag rundeten das Programm ab. Die Teilnehmer/innen erlebten eine ausgesprochen gelungene Tagung, und wir danken Anna Jermakoviča, der Schulleiterin des Katholischen Gymnasiums, für ihre große Gastfreundschaft, und Zbignevs Stankevičs, dem Erzbischof von Riga, für sein persönliches Segensgebet im ökumenischen Geist am Samstagmorgen!

IV news:

From September 27-30, the long-planned study trip for school leaders and education experts to the Netherlands also took place. The SCOPE scholengroep of our president Piet Jansen, which runs a total of 23 Protestant and Catholic schools in Alphen aan den Rijn, was the host. Eight participants from four European countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Germany) took part. They visited primary and secondary schools and the headquarters of VERUS, the umbrella organization advising the approximately 4000 Christian schools in the Netherlands with 1.3 million students. An excursion to the beautiful city of Leiden (the oldest university in the country!) with a visit to a science museum rounded off the program. The participants gained exciting insights into the Dutch school system and the various individual schools. In the Netherlands, two-thirds of all schools are Christian (1/3 Protestant, 1/3 Catholic) and are 100% financed by the state. We want to thank Bert van Leeuwen, Frits Hoekstra, Reindert Brouwer, Dennis Catsburg from SCOPE scholengroep and Berend Kamphuis from VERUS for making this interesting study trip possible!

IV news:

Vom 27.-30. September fand auch die schon länger geplante Studienreise für Schulleitungen und Bildungsexperten in die Niederlande statt. Die SCOPE scholengroep unseres Präsidenten Piet Jansen, die in Alphen aan den Rijn insgesamt 23 evangelische und katholische Schulen betreibt, war Gastgeber. Acht Teilnehmer/innen aus vier europäischen Ländern (Lettland, Litauen, Slowakei, Deutschland) nahmen teil und besuchten Primar- und Sekundarschulen sowie die Zentrale von VERUS, der Dachorganisation zur Beratung der ca. 4000 christlichen Schulen in den Niederlanden mit 1,3 Mio. Schülern. Ein Ausflug in die schöne Stadt Leiden (älteste Universität des Landes!) mit Besuch eines Wissenschaftsmuseums rundete das Programm ab. Die Teilnehmer/innen erhielten spannende Einblicke in das niederländische Schulsystem und in die verschiedenen Einzelschulen. In den Niederlanden sind zwei Drittel aller Schulen christlich geprägt (1/3 evangelisch, 1/3 katholisch) und werden zu 100% vom Staat finanziert. Wir danken Piet Jansen und seinen Kollegen Bert van Leeuwen, Frits Hoekstra, Reindert Brower und Dennis Catsburg von der SCOPE scholengroep sowie Berend Kamphuis von VERUS sehr herzlich für die Ermöglichung und Durchführung dieser interessanten Studienreise!

IV news:

On November 10-11, IV participated in the Barbara Schadeberg Lectures in Rostock, held at a German university every three years. In the impressively well-restored main building of one of the oldest universities in Germany, located in the centre of Rostock, about 80 people gathered to listen to four lectures on the topic “Religion and Digitality – Protestant Schools in Digital Change”. The first day’s evening also saw the traditional presentation of the Barbara Schadeberg School Award (€10,000) during a musical ceremony in the auditorium. Three schools were honoured. The first prize was awarded to two schools: the Matthias-Claudius-Gesamtschule in Bochum and the Evangelische Grundschule Erfurt. The Laurentius-Gymnasium Neuendettelsau near Nuremberg won the 3rd prize. Congratulations!

In addition to the joy of the award-winning schools present, there was a delightful surprise for the 87-year-old benefactress Barbara Lambrecht-Schadeberg. Former German President Joachim Gauck attended the ceremony as a surprise guest and gave a moving eulogy on the person and life’s work of the benefactress. He emphasized her exemplary civic commitment and generous willingness to use private assets for social and cultural purposes for the common good. For more than 25 years, the Barbara Schadeberg Foundation has supported Protestant schools and played a significant role in re-establishing many schools after German reunification in the eastern states of Germany.

IV news:

Am 10./11. November nahm der IV an den Barbara-Schadeberg-Vorlesungen in Rostock teil, die alle drei Jahre an einer deutschen Universität stattfinden. Im eindrucksvoll restaurierten Hauptgebäude einer der ältesten Universitäten Deutschlands, mitten im Zentrum von Rostock gelegen, kamen ca. 80 Personen zusammen, um vier Vorträge zum Thema “Religion und Digitalität – Evangelische Schulen im digitalen Wandel” zu hören. Am Abend des ersten Tages erfolgte auch die traditionelle Verleihung des mit 10.000 € dotierten Barbara-Schadeberg-Schulpreises im Rahmen einer musikalischen Feierstunde in der Aula. Drei Schulen wurden ausgezeichnet: die Matthias-Claudius-Gesamtschule in Bochum und die Evangelische Grundschule Erfurt gewannen den 1. Preis und das Laurentius-Gymnasium Neuendettelsau bei Nürnberg gewann den 3. Preis. Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Neben der Freude für die anwesenden Delegationen der Preisträgerschulen gab es auch eine schöne Überraschung für die 87-jährige Stifterin Barbara Lambrecht-Schadeberg: Der ehemalige Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck nahm als Überraschungsgast an der Feierstunde teil und hielt eine bewegende Laudatio auf die Person und das Lebenswerk der Stifterin. Er unterstrich ihr vorbildliches bürgerschaftliches Engagement und ihre großzügige Bereitschaft, privates Vermögen für soziale und kulturelle Zwecke des Gemeinwohls einzusetzen. Seit über 25 Jahren fördert die Barbara-Schadeberg-Stiftung evangelische Schulen und hat großen Anteil an der Neugründung vieler Schulen nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung in den östlichen Bundesländern. 

IV news:

Die evangelisch-lutherische Kindergartenpartnerschaft zwischen Bayern und Ungarn hat eine lange Tradition. In diesem Jahr konnte vom 9.-12. Oktober das 20jährige Jubiläum unter dem Titel „Musik ist Gottes Geschenk“ begangen werden. Während der Tagung hospitierten die Teilnehmer/innen im evangelischen Kindergarten der Insula Lutherana in Györ und feierten auch gemeinsam Gottesdienst. Eine interaktive Musikinstrumentenpräsentation durch Eltern unter der Leitung einer Musiklehrerin fand in der Györer Synagoge statt.

Im Mittelpunkt dieses Weiterbildungsangebots für evangelische Erzieher/innen stand die musikalische Bildung und ihre Bedeutung für die geistige, körperliche und religiöse Entwicklung. Eine Gesangs- und Musiklehrerin der reformierten Károli Gáspár-Universität führte die Teilnehmer/innen in die Kodály-Methode des Gesangsunterrichts ein und ging auf Fragen der Kindergartenpädagogik ein. Adaptionen biblischer Geschichten durch den emeritierten Religionspädagogen Prof. Frieder Harz aus Nürnberg und die theologische Reflexion gemeinsam gestalteter Andachten ergänzten das Programm. Auch der persönliche Kontakt und Austausch über Praxisfragen der Kindergartenerziehung kam nicht zu kurz wie auch ein kulturelles Rahmenprogramm mit Stadtführung und Volkstanzabend.

Die Leitung der Tagung hatten auf deutscher Seite Sigrid Schmidts, Referentin des Evangelischen Kindergartenverbandes in Bayern, und Pfarrerin Susanne Menzke, auf ungarischer Seite Judit Hajnal Hallgátoné, ehemalige Schulleiterin in Györ, und Pfarrerin Katalin Lázárné Skorka.

IV news:

The Evangelical Lutheran kindergarten partnership between Bavaria and Hungary has a long tradition. This year, from October 9-12, the 20th anniversary could be celebrated under the title “Music is God’s gift”. During the meeting, the participants observed in the Lutheran kindergarten of the Insula Lutherana in Györ and celebrated worship together. An interactive presentation of an interactive musical instruments by parents led by a music teacher took place in the Györ synagogue.

The focus of this continuing education program for Protestant educators was musical education and its importance for mental, physical and religious development. A singing and music teacher from the Reformed Károli Gáspár University introduced the participants to the Kodály method of teaching singing and addressed questions about kindergarten pedagogy. Adaptations of biblical stories by the emeritus religious educator Prof. Frieder Harz from Nuremberg and the theological reflection of jointly designed devotions completed the program. Personal contact and exchange on practical questions of kindergarten education were also not neglected, as well as cultural program with a guided tour of the city and a folk dance evening.

The conference was led on the German side by Sigrid Schmidts, speaker of the Protestant Kindergarten Association in Bavaria, and Pastor Susanne Menzke, and on the Hungarian side by Judit Hajnal Hallgátoné, a former principal in Györ, and Pastor Katalin Lázárné Skorka.

Das internationale Bildungsnetzwerk PILGRIM startete im Jahr 2002/03 mit dem Studienprojekt „Nachhaltigkeit & Religion(en) –  eine Pilgerreise“ auf Initiative des österreichischen Bundesministeriums für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur. Es ging um die Entwicklung einer vierten Dimension der Nachhaltigkeit: Die Spiritualität. Wichtig war von Anfang an die ökumenische und interreligiöse Komponente von PILGRIM. Am 6. Juni 2023 werden nun 20 Jahre PILGRIM in Wien gefeiert, sowohl das Konzept, als auch die vielen internationalen Schulen und Institutionen werden im Mittelunkt stehen!

Den Auftakt zu den Jubiläumsfeierlichkeiten bildete am 4. Oktober 2022 der Workshop mit dem vatikanischen Verantwortlichen John Mundell der „Laudato Si Action Platform“ (siehe Bild) – eine inspirierende Plattform, die genauso wie PILGRIM unter anderem „nachhaltige Bildung“ und „ökologische Spiritualität“ zum Ziel hat.

ICCS news:

The ICCS board met face to face for the first time in three years in Riga in Latvia in November. It was a great pleasure to get together again after a long series of digital board meetings. The exchange of ideas and thoughts flows more easily and it meant that we dug deep into the identity question of our organisation. Which profile do we want ICCS to develop and implement in the future? There are other organisations promoting and developing Religious Education as a central school subject, and also those working on the Christian identity of schools run by churches in Europe. We work together with them in trust via the CoGREE team. But we asked where is our niche? Our niche has to be linked to our history from 1958 and our name: Intereuropean Commission on Church and School. Our niche is to see the relation between church and school, the BETWEEN formal religious education in schools and non-formal religious education. The non-formal field, religious education in churches, families and the civil society is growing, and churches of different denominations have offices and staff with this pedagogical task as their main obligation. These offices encourage the churches to work with school and church relations to support schools in their teaching of Christianity in a multireligious school environment. This means that ICCS operates with Religious education in a broad sense and wants to focus especially on the relation between the formal and non-formal sector. We want to shape ICCS to be a network for these educational offices in Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches in Europe.

The ICCS board meeting was combined with the General Assembly of IV 4 – 6 November where we took part in their symposium with lectures and workshops on Hope in times of crises. We also had a common meeting of the boards of ICCS and IV. The site for our conference was the Riga Catholic Gymnasium, where we were received with warm hospitality by staff and students of different ages for talks, meals and entertainment. They performed an expressive dance depicting the fight between black and white, good and evil, on the chess board. Our visit to Riga gave us an impressive glimpse into a young nation’s effort to shape a value conscious Latvian identity after they regained their independence in 1991.

Heid Leganger-Krogstad

Professor emerita Religious Education
President of ICCS

ICCS board working session

ICCS and IV common meeting

ICCS board dinner
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PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

CoRE report Religion and worldviews: the way forward

“The Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) has spent the last two years listening to evidence from a wide-range of concerned parties including pupils, teachers, lecturers, advisers, parents and faith and belief communities. We have received over three thousand submissions. We have been excited and encouraged by the reports of the excellent work happening day by day in many classrooms. We are, however, convinced that RE needs rejuvenating if it is to continue to make its important contribution; indeed if it is not to wither on the vine. There are three reasons for this. First is the growing diversity of religions and beliefs that pupils today encounter, both in their locality and in the media. Second is the variable quality of RE experienced by pupils across the country. Third is the fact that the legal arrangements around RE are no longer working as more schools become academies. In this, its Final Report, CoRE therefore proposes that a new National Plan for RE should be enacted to ensure that learning in this area remains academically rigorous and a knowledge-rich preparation for life in a world of great religion and belief diversity.”

IV news:

A short video impression.

IV news:

IV General Assembly 2022

The Riga Catholic Gymnasium invites us to the Latvian capital and we look forward to meeting in Riga this year after the virtual assemblies in 2020 and 2021!

Our meeting will begin on Friday, 4th November, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. and end on Sunday, 6th November, 2022, at noon. Saturday (05th November) will be dedicated to the symposium on the topic “Dare to hope!? – How Christian schools accompany the growing up of youngsters in times of crisis”. The topic will be discussed in two main lectures by Prof Dr Henning Schluß from Germany and Prof Dr Gerdien Bertram-Troost from the Netherlands as well as in a workshop with Bianca Kappelhoff (Comenius-Institut). The statutory general meeting will follow then from 4.30 to 6.00 p.m. Please find the detailed program here.

Allgemeine Mitgliederversamlung 2022

Das Katholische Gymnasium Riga lädt uns in die lettische Hauptstadt ein und wir freuen uns, nach den virtuellen Mitgliederversammlungen 2020 und 2021 in diesem Jahr in Riga zusammenkommen zu können!

Unsere Versammlung beginnt am Freitag, 04. November 2022, um 18.00 Uhr und endet am Sonntag, 06. November 2022, in der Mittagszeit. Der Samstag (05.11.) steht ganz im Zeichen des Studientages zum Thema „Hoffnung wagen!? – Wie christliche Schulen das Aufwachsen von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Krisenzeiten begleiten“. In zwei Hauptvorträgen von Prof. Dr. Henning Schluß aus Deutschland und Prof‘. Dr. Gerdien Bertram-Troost aus den Niederlanden sowie einem Workshop mit Bianca Kappelhoff (Comenius- Institut) wird das Thema behandelt. Die satzungsgemäße Mitgliederversammlung findet anschließend von 16.30 bis 18.00 Uhr statt.

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

Big Ideas for Religious Education: https://bigideasforre.org/

is an approach to curriculum, teaching and learning used around the worldwas a key influence on the development of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) national entitlementhas been developed by RE professionals with many years of experience at local and national level

PILGRIM news:

ICCS news:

ICCS together with its partner the IV hast just published the most recent issue of its newsletter. In this rich edition, you can learn more about peace education in times of the Ukraine war and register for the study trip in September to get to know the work of Christian schools in the Netherlands. The partner network PILGRIM from the Coordinating Group for Religion in Education in Europe (CoGREE) reports on the launch of the new Erasmus+ project “SYSmind” on education for sustainable development with a focus on intercultural values and ethics. Furthermore, an online platform on blended learning with teaching materials for teachers is presented. You will also find information about the current and upcoming events of the two publishing organisations and other European networks in this issue.

Enjoy reading!

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Nachdem die Mitgliederversammlung 2021 nur virtuell stattgefunden hatte, konnte auch der Studientag zum Thema “Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung für Religion und Bildung in christlichen Schulen” nicht wie geplant im Frühjahr in Riga stattfinden. Corona und zusätzlich der russische Angriffskrieg auf die Ukraine machten die Situation im März/April dieses Jahres zu unsicher für Tagungsplanung und Reisen in die Region der baltischen Staaten.

Auch wenn ein Ende des Krieges zurzeit nicht in Sicht ist, wollen wir einen neuen Versuch wagen, uns im Herbst 2022 zur Mitgliederversammlung in Riga zu treffen. Gerade jetzt ist ein Zeichen der Nähe und Verbundenheit mit unseren baltischen Freunden wichtig! Der Vorstand des IV hat im Mai beraten und beschlossen, die Mitgliederversammlung vom 4. – 6. November 2022 in Riga durchzuführen. Zugleich wird das Thema des geplanten Studientages geändert, es lautet nun: “Hoffnung wagen!? – Wie christliche Schulen das Aufwachsen von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Krisenzeiten begleiten”. Theologisch-pädagogische Fragen der Friedenserziehung und Friedensethik, Konzepte religionspädagogischer und schulseelsorglicher Begleitung von Schülerinnen und Schülern in Krisenzeiten sowie praktische Erfahrungen unserer Schulen im Umgang mit Kriegsflüchtlingen sollen im Mittelpunkt der Tagung stehen.

Wir hoffen sehr, dass es diesmal gelingt, sich in Riga zu Austausch und Begegnung zu treffen! Alle Mitglieder des IV sowie interessierte Nichtmitglieder sind herzlich eingeladen! Ein detailliertes Programm wird rechtzeitig erscheinen.

Interkulturelle und interreligiöse Aspekte in der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Das ERASMUS+ Projekt “Discovering a sustainable Mindset-SYSMind” wurde mit einem Treffen in Wien im April 2022 gestartet. Es wurde vom “Zentrum für Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung und Spiritualität” der KPH Wien/Krems, das mit PILGRIM kooperiert, organisiert. Es waren Teilnehmer aus Spanien, Deutschland, Lettland, Österreich, der Türkei, Nordmazedonien und der Ukraine anwesend. Die Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpädagogik in Wien, die das Projekt leitet, hat eine Homepage https://www.sustainablemindset.eu eingerichtet. Das Ergebnis dieses Projekts werden Unterrichtsmaterialien und ein MOOC sein.

24. Februar 2022: Russland erklärt der Ukraine den Krieg und überfällt das Land. Nicht weniger als drei Monate später befindet sich das Land immer noch im Krieg. Doch wie ist die Situation in den ukrainischen katholischen Schulen heute? Was sind die dringenden Bedürfnisse der Schulen und Kirchengemeinden? Inwieweit können wir als Interessenvertreter und Repräsentanten der katholischen Schulen in Europa unsere ukrainischen Partner unterstützen?

Diese und andere Fragen wurden in einem Live-Webinar am 12. Mai 2022 in Lviv erörtert, das von Vertretern der Kommission für das Bildungswesen der Ukrainischen Griechisch-Katholischen Kirche, des Europäischen Komitees für das Katholische Bildungswesen (CEEC) und des Internationalen Büros für das Katholische Bildungswesen (OIEC) gemeinsam organisiert wurde.

Bei dieser Veranstaltung, die von Philippe Richard (OIEC) und Guy Selderslagh (CEEC) moderiert wurde, kamen mehrere Akteure und Vertreter der katholischen Schulen in der Ukraine zu Wort:

• Pater Petro Mayba, Leiter der Bildungskommission der griechisch-katholischen Kirche der Ukraine
• Schwester Khrystophora Bushtyn, Mitglied des öffentlichen Rates der Kirchen und religiösen Organisationen im Bildungsministerium der Ukraine
• Olya Riy, Schulleiterin der St. Sofia-Schule in Lviv
• Halyna Tuziak, Leiterin des Kindergartens St. Nicholas in Lviv

Nachfolgend finden Sie die Beiträge der Diskussionsteilnehmenden als Transkripte in mehreren Sprachen.

ICCS news:

The Wergeland Centre in Norway and the Council of Europe have established a new online learning platform for educators. This is to provide teachers and other educators with resources for their teaching for democracy and human rights. This platform is under development to provide openly accessible resources. Available resources in many languages and connected to different school subjects, including religious education, are already listed.

Blended learning is one of the positive results of the experience from the pandemic. The crisis forced teaching out of classrooms to online platforms and digital teaching and learning has shown to have rich possibilities. The Wergeland Centre has developed a Blended learning guide as a free information resource for educators in schools, universities and civil society. It is a short, richly illustrated and instructive online course for individual use, as a helping hand to develop blended learning in your own learning groups or classes.

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Dies ist die erklärte Mission des kommenden Weltkongresses von OIEC vom 1. bis 3. Dezember 2022 in Marseille, Frankreich. OIEC ist das internationale Büro für das katholische Bildungswesen, das die katholischen Bildungseinrichtungen weltweit unter seinem Dach versammelt. Dabei ist CEEC das europäische Sekretariat.

Pädagogen, Verantwortliche und Referenten aus der ganzen Welt werden in Marseille zusammenkommen, um unter dem Motto “Die katholische Schule als Körper der Hoffnung, um die Welt zu verändern” zu diskutieren, sich auszutauschen und zu feiern.

Unmittelbar nach Kriegsausbruch überlegte der geschäftsführende Vorstand von EFTRE, was ihr europäisches Netzwerk in dieser Situation tun könnte. So wurde einerseits eine gemeinsame Stellungnahme erarbeitet und andererseits ein online-Workshop für Religionslehrkräfte organisiert.

Die Erklärung wurde auf der EFTRE-Website veröffentlicht. Sie hebt die Bedeutung von Bildung für die Entwicklung von interreligiösem und interkulturellem Verständnis hervor und bekräftig, dass „Friedensbildung im Kontext von Menschenrechten und sozialer Verantwortung ein integraler Bestandteil all unserer Bildungsbegegnungen und -aktivitäten ist”.  

Der Online-Workshop diente dann dazu, diese Leitprinzipien zu konkretisieren und für die Unterrichtspraxis von Religionslehrkräften aus allen Schulformen und Ländern Europas fruchtbar zu machen. Dafür sollten verschiedene Praxisbeispiele gesammelt werden.

Der Workshop fand am 1. April 2022 statt. Die Teilnehmenden kamen aus einer Reihe von Ländern, darunter Belgien, Estland, Finnland, Deutschland, Ungarn, Irland, Italien, Spanien, Schweden und dem Vereinigten Königreich (England und Nordirland).  Nach einer Begrüßung und Einführung durch EFTRE-Vorsitzende Lesley Prior hatten die Teilnehmenden die Gelegenheit, ihre eigenen Erfahrungen im Umgang mit Kriegs- und Konfliktthemen zu schildern.

Hugo Verkest aus Belgien zeigte eine eindringliche Reflexion in Bildern und Worten unter dem Titel „Passfotos für schutzsuchende Ukrainer“. Lesley Prior hielt einen kurzen Vortrag über die von den Quäkern in England produzierten Ressourcen zur Friedenserziehung, und Norman Richardson teilte seine Erfahrungen aus Nordirland mithilfe der Präsentation „Difficult Conversations? – Annäherung an kontroverse Themen im Religionsunterricht“. Daneben wurde eine breite Palette von Quellen und Ressourcen weitergegeben, die Bianca Kappelhoff und ihre Kolleg:innen in Deutschland gesammelt hatten. 

Diese Präsentationen und Links zu den Ressourcen sind jetzt über die EFTRE-Website verfügbar. Gerne können jederzeit weitere Tipps und Unterrichtsideen geteilt werden, die EFTRE dann an gleicher Stelle zur Verfügung stellen wird. Nutzen Sie dafür einfach das Kontaktformular auf der Website.

ICCS news:

This year, ICCS and IV can finally offer you the chance to go on a study tour to a European country. After two years of break due to the pandemic, the longtime planned study tour to Christian schools in the Netherlands will take place this September. Book your place now!

You will find all further information via the buttons here above. In case of questions, please don’t hesitate to contact IV President Piet Jansen, who is coordinating the study tour (piet@jansenvermaas.nl, tel. +31 6 30 12 24 36).

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EuFRES news:

“Dialogue of Religions and Cultures – Impulses on the Situation in Europe”.
Lecture 2, Friday, 22.04.2022
Michael Kuhn

The first question I asked myself after being invited again was: what did I initially intend to tell you? Certainly, something about the various initiatives of the European political institutions, the Council of Europe and the European Union, on intercultural dialogue, and something about the practical possibilities that would result from the political proposals. Probably also about the dialogue between Religions and European politics and the cooperation between Churches and Religions in Europe that is necessary for this.

Immediately after these reflections, however, I asked myself a second question: would those topics I had wanted to talk about in spring 2020 still fit after what we have experienced in the two years since March 2020? Did not important social parameters change as a result of the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it? Have we not become aware of the global connections and interdependencies as well as the resulting limitation of the scope of action for states and individuals? Did we not gain new insights into the (limited) importance of Europe in economic and geopolitical terms? Did we not suddenly realise how much we lack suitable instruments for global cooperation and coordination in crises? Didn’t we realise once again how differently we react to common threats – e.g. through the different sanitary-political measures, for example in China or the USA, which are also culturally conditioned, not to mention the divergent approaches in the European Union? The reactions to these measures – protests, demonstrations, emotional arguments in the social media – did they not make cultural and social tensions, shifts, dislocations and ruptures visible that cut across society, friendships and families? Have we not witnessed how quickly deeply rooted cultural forms such as greeting rituals have changed from one day to the next under the pressure of hygiene measures: no more shaking hands, no more three kisses so characteristic of Latin culture, no confidential putting of the arm around the shoulder and no more “hygge” or “knuffelen”. Instead: keep a distance of 2 metres, born of the mistrust that everyone could be a potential carrier of the disease and thus contagious. The crowds at the carnival shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic in Europe had given way to empty public spaces in the cities, instead of the noise of airplanes suddenly a quiet sky, and encounters between neighbours and friends took place on the balcony, each one on his or her side of the street, .

EuFRES news:

Educating for a culture of dialogue in religious education
Lecture 1, Thursday, 21.04.2022

Sergio Cicatelli

Premise
There can be at least two ways of approaching the theme of education to a culture of dialogue in religious education (IR): asking how to do it and asking why to do it. The first working hypothesis leads to propose possible school examples of a culture of dialogue and has an essentially didactic purpose, but we will not deal with it here. The second hypothesis can in turn be articulated in two perspectives: asking why one should educate to a culture of dialogue and asking why one can do so; in the first case the school’s aims are at stake, in the second the very nature of the culture of dialogue is at stake and the discourse can become an epistemological research aimed at the theoretical foundation of dialogue in schools and religions.

It is above all in the latter perspective that we would like to set out the following reflections, attempting to relate three conceptual poles: dialogue, religion and school. A particular significance of each of these will be highlighted in order to construct a possibly unified path which holds all three concepts together within the specific IR, the nature of which will be kept in mind in a basically universal manner, but with a particularly attentive look at the Italian model, which seems to us capable of offering an effective synthesis. Once the theoretical possibility of dialogue has been established, it will be easy to translate this
principle into teaching practice.

EuFRES news:

Final document of the XX EuFRES Forum

            The promotion of the dialogue of cultures in Europe is necessitated by the different historical, geopolitical, religious, socio-cultural and educational experiences of the individual countries.

Given the aims of religious education in school, the dialogue of cultures, if properly understood and implemented, is a concrete contribution to the holistic development of the pupil.

An important aspect of the dialogue of cultures in school religious education is to highlight the dialogical and dynamic nature of religions that support pupils’ development. Commitment to one’s own church/faith community presupposes an internal culture of dialogue.

A genuine dialogue of cultures involving religions requires that each religion preserves its identity while remaining open to other religions and beliefs. Reaching out to each other is an important component of dialogue.

Education for dialogue is a major task for religious education, which should be implemented at all levels of education in schools.

The ultimate aim is to help students develop the ability to engage in dialogue as an expression of respect and recognition of the value of the other person.

All those involved in the educational process are obliged to continuously develop their competences in this area and to actively participate in the dialogue. The development of an attitude of dialogue should involve teachers, pupils and their parents.

The training should combine elements of theory and practice. It should provide for a holistic harmonisation of the cognitive, emotional, communicative and spiritual levels.

The denominational model of religious education seems to be an effective means of promoting intercultural dialogue. However, it is important to appreciate models of cooperation between other faiths and religions as one of the new ways forward.

The experience of upheaval through secularisation is a challenge also in the field of religious education. The fundamental longing and sensitivity for religious questions should be perceived and given space to develop.

EFTRE news:

EFTRE Online Workshop – April 2022

Following discussions within the Executive Committee of EFTRE as to how best to respond to the conflict in Ukraine, two decisions were made.  The first was to issue a statement on the EFTRE website highlighting the importance of education in developing inter-religious and intercultural understanding, and affirming that “Peacebuilding, in a context of human rights and social responsibility, is an integral part of all our educational encounters and activities”.   

The second decision was to prepare an online Workshop in order to flesh out these ideals in a context that might be helpful to religious educators at all levels.  It was agreed to find examples of effective practice from different parts of Europe and to offer these for consideration and discussion. 

The Workshop took place on 1st April 2022, and participants joined from a range of countries including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK (England and Northern Ireland).  After a welcome and introduction by Lesley Prior, the EFTRE Chair, those taking part were given an opportunity to share their own experiences of dealing with issues around war and conflict. 

A powerful reflection via images and words – Passport Photos for Sheltering Ukrainians – was presented by Hugo Verkest, from Belgium, followed by the sharing of a wide range of sources and resources collected by Bianca Kappelhoff and her colleagues in Germany.  Lesley Prior made a brief presentation on Quaker Peace Education resources produced in England, and Norman Richardson, based on his experience in Northern Ireland, introduced a PowerPoint presentation entitled Difficult Conversations? –  Approaching Controversial Issues in the Religious Education Classroom.

These presentations and links to the resources are now available via this website.  We hope that they will be useful both at the present time and in the future. Please bring them to the attention of colleagues, pupils and students. 

EFTRE would welcome any other experiences and teaching ideas that you would like to share on these important issues as we continue to encourage and support peacebuilding through Religious Education and related subjects.

The resources collected in Germany referred to above can be found in the following websites:

https://relichat.org/2022/02/28/144-relichat-sehnsucht-nach-frieden-was-geht-die-ukraine-mich-an/https://material.rpi-virtuell.de/themenseite/frieden-und-friedenserziehung/https://my.relilab.org/material/ukraine-praxishilfen-fuer-schule-und-gemeinde/https://www.gpenreformation.net/networkactivities/peace-education-period/information-and-materials/

British Quaker Peace Education resources can be found at:

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/QuakerPeaceEducation; and https://quaker.org.uk/resources/free-resources/teaching-resources-2.

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

Friday, 1st April 2022 at 4-5.30pm CET (3-4.30pm UK/IRE, 5-6.30pm FIN/GRE), on Zoom

The current challenges arising from Ukraine are affecting all of us living and working in education across Europe. As religious education teachers, you might be wondering how to take up the topic in a sensible way in your classroom, how to talk about peace as core idea of many world religions in this new setting or how to best react to fears and questions brought up by your students in this context. 

With this workshop, EFTRE would like to offer a space for exchange, which will provide the opportunity to share experiences and expertise from our various contexts and backgrounds and learn from one another. The workshop will follow these guiding questions.

How is the current situation affecting you right now?

Where do you encounter these issues at school? Are pupils moved by it?

How can religions give (spiritual) shape to the longing for peace, especially in religious education classes?

How do we learn peace? Do you have tips for materials, methods, …?

The workshop will provide time for exchange in plenary but also in small group discussion. In addition, Norman Richardson, EFTRE executive member, will share his experience from the Northern Irish context and strategies on how to teach controversial issues.

In a spirit of mutual support, ideas, practical suggestions and resources shared by speakers and participants during the workshop will be made available via the EFTRE website later on. 

You don’t need to register for this event, please simply follow this link to participate in the zoom meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9617255369?pwd=a3JwWW40Rk9YazY0REhpK3M3bVRuUT09

Meeting ID: 961 725 5369
Passcode: 613248

EFTRE news:

As an organisation involved in supporting inter-religious and intercultural understanding through education, the Executive Committee of EFTRE is very concerned about the challenges to peace and stability currently taking place in Ukraine.  We are deeply committed to European co-operation and want to express our full solidarity with all those who stand up for peace and reconciliation across Europe and beyond.   

Peacebuilding, in a context of human rights and social responsibility, is an integral part of all our educational encounters and activities.  Current events demonstrate how close we are as people of Europe and as fellow human beings from a wide range of backgrounds, religions and cultures.  We have a deep sense of connection in our commitment to education and to learning from and with each other across borders and differences. 

We acknowledge that many educators in different countries will currently be facing the challenge of how to address these issues with their pupils and students.  EFTRE bases its educational approach on the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools1, and we offer the following extracts from this set of principles to highlight our concerns and commitments at this time, namely that:   

“Students should learn about religions and beliefs in an environment respectful of human rights, fundamental freedoms and civic values; 

Those who teach about religions and beliefs should have a commitment to religious freedom … ; 

… teaching about religions and beliefs should give attention to key historical and contemporary developments … and reflect global and local issues”. 

In a spirit of mutual support, we would welcome the sharing of any practical suggestions around ideas and resources for teaching about these issues through Religious Education classes in collaboration with other subjects.  It is our intention to make these approaches available via our website. 

We are conscious that some of our colleagues, members and fellow educators are particularly close to these difficult situations, and we know that some are especially anxious about the future.  At this tense and difficult time, we want to assure them of our thoughts, our concern for their safety and our hopes for a justice in a spirit of peace. 

1 The Toledo Guidelines were published by the OSCE/ODIHR in 2007: https://www.osce.org/odihr/29154. See also Signposts, Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education, published by the Council of Europe in 2014: https://www.academia.edu/29035890.

ICCS news:

Together with partners from CoGREE we have published a statement on the war in Ukraine. Please click on the button to read the full statement.

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PILGRIM news:

ICCS news:

On 18th January 2022, the Committee of INGOs at the Council of Europe, which works on questions of religious education and dialogue and in which ICCS participates, had the chance to exchange with Members of the European Parliament. The ‘Group for intercultural dialogue’ of the European People’s Party (EPP), invited them to reflect together how religious and faith-based communities can contribute to a democratic and peaceful society.

The representatives of the Committee for the interreligious & interconvictional dialogue (IRICDC) of the Conference of INGOs, Sören Lenz (Conference of European Churches), Gabriela Frey (European Buddhist Union) and Jean-François Bour (Democracy, European Construction and Religions) stressed that education programmes and projects led by religious communities are an essential element of dialogue, especially inter-religious and interconvictional dialogue. Education understood in the sense of “Bildung” focuses on a holistic education, where empathy, respect and self-reflection are a major part of. Such programmes are foremost about learning a self-critical analysis of one’s positions in relation to others, who think and feel differently.

The EPP group for Intercultural dialogue showed high interest in this new initiative by religious and worldview-based INGOs at the Council of Europe. Next steps of this initiative include the compilation of education projects from around Europe including analysis and the organisation of webinars on these matters. ICCS will continue participating in this process with its board members James Barnett and Bianca Kappelhoff.

Meeting of IRICDC and EPP group

Committee for the interreligious & interconvictional dialogue (IRICDC)

Photo: From left to right: MEP Jan Olbrycht, Sören Lenz, Gabriela Frey, Roman Strasser and Jean-François Bour in Strasbourg. Photo © EPP

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PILGRIM news:

EuFRES news:

KAZIMIERZ MISIASZEK SDB

Lekcja religii czy katecheza?

Lekcja religii czy katecheza?

Po ponad 20 latach doświadczeń obecności nauczania religii w szkole polskiej okazuje się, że nie ustają kontrowersje związane z charakterem lekcji religii: wciąż pojawiają się pytania, czy ma ona być zwyczajną lekcją szkolną, czy też katechezą. Odpowiedzi są zróżnicowane. Dla pasterzy Kościoła i większości autorów piszących o nauczaniu religii, lekcja religii powinna być ujmowana w kategoriach katechezy, wypełniając wszystkie jej zadania. Nie brakuje jednak głosów, które wskazują na niemożność przeprowadzania w szkole katechezy, a tym samym zaproponować uczniowi pełnej formacji chrześcijańskiej. Stąd rodzą się pytania: co stoi u podstaw zaistniałych kontrowersji? Gdzie należy szukać właściwych odpowiedzi o rzeczywisty charakter nauczania religii w szkole? Czy wypełniła ona wszystkie pokładane w niej nadzieje i jaka jest ewentualnie przyszłość nauczania religii w polskiej szkole?

Katecheza a lekcja religii

Od ustalenia właściwych relacji między katechezą a lekcją religii zależy w największej mierze właściwe określenie charakteru nauczania religii w szkole, a tym samym wskazanie na możliwe do wypełnienia przez nie zadań w obszarze edukacji[1]. Pomocą w tym zakresie przychodzą współczesne dokumenty kościelne, jak również tradycja Kościoła. Najważniejszymi dokumentami są adhortacja apostolska o katechizacji w naszych czasach Jana Pawła II Catechesi tradendae z 1979 r. oraz Dyrektorium ogólne o katechizacji, wydane w 1997 r. przez Kongregację do spraw Duchowieństwa.

Zgodnie z tradycją Kościoła katecheza jest podstawową drogą chrześcijańskiej formacji wiernych. Od samego początku była (i jest) realizowana we wspólnocie chrześcijańskiej, co oznacza, że realizuje się w parafii i parafia jest za nią odpowiedzialna. Charakter katechezy oddają przede wszystkim pełnione przez nią funkcję: nauczania, wychowania i wtajemniczenia (inicjacji). Jest ona nauczaniem prawd wiary, formowaniem osobowości ucznia oraz drogą wprowadzającą katechizowanego w obszar doświadczeń religijnych, chrześcijańskich. I to ostatnie zadanie, wprowadzanie w misterium życia chrześcijańskiego, wtajemniczanie, jest najbardziej istotną cechą katechezy, nadającą jej niepowtarzalny charakter, który nie jest porównywalny z żadnym innym działaniem pedagogicznym. Jan Paweł II w Catechesi tradendae wskaże, że specyficznym celem katechezy jest poznanie tajemnicy Jezusa, jak również tajemnicy Królestwa Bożego (nr 20), czego nie sposób uczynić bez działań o charakterze wtajemniczającym, zakładającym przede wszystkim obecność w katechezie liturgii i sakramentów, które pomagają w otwieraniu się na tajemnicę, czy lepiej – na wejście w misterium. Ten związek katechezy z liturgią i sakramentami Jan Paweł II ujął w swojej adhortacji niezwykle celnie: „życie sakramentalne ubożeje i bardzo szybko zostaje sprowadzone do zewnętrznego rytualizmu, jeśli nie jest oparte na pogłębionej znajomości znaczenia sakramentów, a sama katecheza, jeśli nie jest ożywiana życiem sakramentalnym, przybiera formę czystego intelektualizowania” (nr 23).

W Dyrektorium ogólnym o katechizacji jest wiele miejsca poświęconego katechezie w jej aspekcie inicjacyjnym. Mówi się w tym dokumencie wprost, że katecheza pozostaje w służbie wtajemniczenia chrześcijańskiego. Autorzy tego dokumentu piszą, że „katecheza jest (…) podstawowym elementem wtajemniczenia chrześcijańskiego oraz jest ściśle związana z sakramentami wtajemniczenia, szczególnie z chrztem, «sakramentem wiary» (DOK 65). Natomiast za podstawowe cechy katechezy wtajemniczającej uznają organiczną i systematyczną formację wiary, integralne wtajemniczenie chrześcijańskie, pogłębienie całego życia chrześcijańskiego, skoncentrowanie na tym, co stanowi ośrodek doświadczenia chrześcijańskiego, czym są fundamentalne prawdy wiary i podstawowe wartości ewangeliczne (nr 67). Syntetycznie podają, że katecheza ma równocześnie podejmować zadania wtajemniczenia, wychowania i pouczenia (nr 68).

W dyskusjach broniących katechetycznego charakteru temat nauczania religii w szkole polskiej, wielu autorów sięga do adhortacji Catechesi tradendae, cytując z niej na poparcie swojej tezy zdanie, że „obok rodziny i w łączności z nią szkoła stwarza katechezie możliwości nie do pogardzenia” (nr 69). Zwykle nie przytaczają oni dalszej wypowiedzi Jana Pawła II, który w tym samym paragrafie precyzuje, że tego typu stwierdzenie odnosi się „oczywiście przede wszystkim do szkoły katolickiej”, jak również wyraźnie rozróżnia katechezę parafialną od nauczania religii w szkole publicznej, czy też – jaką ją nazywa – bezwyznaniowej. Gdy wspomina o potrzebie formacji duchowej katolickich uczniów w szkole, używa terminologii zwykle w takich przypadkach stosowanej – mówi o nauczaniu religii (tamże).

Tak więc dokument papieski wprowadza już pierwsze rozróżnienia między katechezą realizowaną w parafii czy w rodzinie od nauczania religii w szkole publicznej. Pojawiają się one wyraźnie w Dyrektorium ogólnym o katechizacji, w którym lekcji religii poświęcono osobne paragrafy (73-76). W dokumencie tym twierdzi się, że nauczanie religii w szkole posiada własny charakter oraz odpowiednie relacje z katechezą dzieci i młodzieży. Precyzuje się zarazem – co wydaje się kwestią fundamentalną dla właściwego rozumienia charakteru lekcji religii i katechezy – że „relacja między nauczaniem religii w szkole i katechezą jest relacją zróżnicowania i komplementarności” (nr 73). Takie postawienie tej kwestii oznacza, że lekcja religii nie jest wyłączona z ogólnie rozumianego procesu katechetycznego, ale też nie utożsamia się z nim do końca – posiada, jak zostało powyżej napisane, własny charakter.

W czym więc wyraża się tenże własny charakter nauczania religii w szkole publicznej? Autorzy Dyrektorium udzielają następującej odpowiedzi: „Tym, co nauczaniu religii w szkole nadaje szczególną cechę, jest fakt, że jest ono wezwane do przeniknięcia na obszar kultury oraz wejścia w relacje z innymi dziedzinami wiedzy. Jako oryginalna forma posługi słowa nauczanie religii w szkole uobecnia Ewangelię w systematycznym i krytycznym osobistym procesie przyswojenia kultury” (nr 73). Tego rodzaju twierdzenie nie jest jednakże ujmowaniem nauczania religii w kategoriach bliżej nieokreślonego kulturoznawstwa czy tym bardziej religioznawstwa, ale przypomnieniem, że szkoła z natury jest instytucją kulturalną, wprowadzającą ucznia w ten obszar kulturowy, w którym żyje. W obszarze tym zwykle jest obecna religia, której rolę i funkcję powinien on poznać. Zresztą w dalszej części tego samego paragrafu znajdziemy rozwiewające wątpliwości stwierdzenie, że „nauczanie religii w szkole przekazuje dynamiczny zaczyn Ewangelii oraz stara się nawiązywać do pozostałych dziedzin nauki i wykształcenia, w tym mianowicie celu, by Ewangelia docierała do umysłu uczniów na samym terenie ich nauki i by cała ich kultura została zharmonizowana w blaskach światła wiary” (tamże). W gruncie rzeczy autorom Dyrektorium chodzi o to, aby nauczanie religii w szkole było ujmowane w kategoriach inkulturacji wiary, co wydaje się propozycją adekwatną do sytuacji szkolnej, z natury – jak to zostało powyżej powiedziane – otwierającą się na kulturę i wprowadzającą w nią ucznia. I jakkolwiek nie pada w dokumencie postulat inkulturacyjny, to jednak podana w nim charakterystyka nauczania religii uprawnia do tego typu sądów kwalifikacyjnych. Jest to zarazem propozycja, która w czasach obecnych znajduje swoje dowartościowanie w nauczaniu tak Jana Pawła II, jak i Benedykta XVI. Obydwaj papieże wiele miejsce poświęcili zagadnieniom inkulturacji wiary. Obecny papież uczynił to najbardziej wyraziście w adhortacji Verbum Domini (2010), przedkładając Kościołowi do refleksji także działania w obszarze wychowania, które powinny być podejmowane zgodnie z zasadami inkulturacji wiary. 

CZYTAJ WIĘCEJ W PDF

[1] Bardziej pełną odpowiedź na to pytanie można znaleźć w K. Misiaszek, Koncepcja nauczania religii katolickiej w publicznej szkole polskiej. Próba oceny, Towarzystwo Naukowe Franciszka Salezego, Warszawa 2010.

EFTRE news:

As we approach the end of another challenging year, I am sure we are all looking forward to a better and brighter world in 2022! I am pleased to say that EFTRE is playing its part in this by launching its revised and improved website! It has a completely fresh look and also features our brand new logo! We really hope that not only will you like it, but that you will want to interact with it and contribute to it in the weeks and months to come.

On behalf of all members and friends of EFTRE, I want to thank the whole EFTRE Executive for contributing to the process which has made this possible. In particular, I want to pay tribute to our website manager Outi Raunio Hannula and our membership manager Bianca Kappelhoff who have both given their special expertise and many hours of their valuable time to this project – their careful attention to every detail is so much appreciated. I would also like to thank our website designer Veera Lupunen – it has been such a pleasure to work with her and she has been incredibly supportive and understanding during the whole process.

Many of you reading this will be preparing to celebrate Christmas very soon – this is traditionally a time of giving, so please accept the new website as EFTRE’s little gift to you! 

We wish all our members and friends a restful and relaxing time during the holiday period and look forward to meeting you online and – we very much hope face to face – in 2022! Stay healthy, safe and well and keep in touch!

EFTRE news:

EFTRE very much regrets to announce that for obvious reasons relating to the pandemic, we have taken the decision to postpone our triennial Conference, due to be held in Rome at the end of August next year, 2022.

But this is simply a delay and NOT a cancellation! We are therefore rescheduling the Conference for the parallel dates in the following year so it will now take place from 24th to 27th August in 2023. After all, Rome is the Eternal City and will still be there to welcome us then! Our theme will be ‘Bridges Over Troubled Water: RE in Changing Times’.

The following EFTRE Conference is to be held in 2025 as originally planned. We are now in the process of looking for a host city for that so if you or your colleagues would be interested in working with us on it, please contact me by email – my address is chair@eftre.net. I would be delighted to hear from you!

In the meantime, the work of EFTRE continues. You can stay in touch with us via this website and all our other online platforms. We are also planning further virtual seminars at regular intervals and look out too for news of our next Executive and Board Meetings.

As an organisation, EFTRE is very much about encounter and the significant importance we place on engagement with one another – so we all look forward in the hope of being able to enjoy more opportunities for such experiences in the coming weeks and months! 

Thank you!

Lesley Prior
Chair of EFTRE

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

ICCS together with its partner the IV hast just published the most recent issue of their common newsletter. In this rich edition you can learn more about a research project about Religious education and Covid-19, about an innovative Erasmus+ project about sustainability and spirituality and new approaches of a common Christian Religious Education in Germany.

You can find links to teacher training possibilities and publications about the future of Religious Education in Europe. Of course, you will also find information about the most recent and upcoming events of the two publishing organisations.

Enjoy reading!

ICCS news:

ICCS together with its partner the IV hast just published the most recent issue of its newsletter. In this rich edition you can learn more about a research project about Religious education and Covid-19, about an innovative Erasmus+ project about sustainability and spirituality and new approaches of a common Chrsitian Religious Education in Germany.

You can find links to teacher training possibilities and publications about the future of Religious Education in Europe. Of course, you will also find information about the most recent and upcoming events of the two publishing organisations.

Enjoy reading!

Read More 

EFTRE news:

I realised recently that it is just over twenty years since I first became directly involved in the work of EFTRE!

In the late summer of 2001, I travelled to Scotland to take part in the EFTRE Conference being held that year in Edinburgh. I seem to remember that I had been strongly attracted to this event from the moment – several months before – when I had first received the initial publicity about it. On reflection, I think there were probably several reasons for this:

first, I felt that engaging with colleagues from across Europe would offer me invaluable opportunities to consider my own work in the context of new and fresh perspectivessecond, the Conference focus on handling truth claims in RE was highly relevant to me, the programme itself offered an excellent range of lectures, seminars, workshops and other activities and the price of attendance – at least for me – seemed to offer real value for moneyand finally, I have to admit that the prospect of spending time in one of my favourite cities with interesting people I had never met before was very appealing!

On all three counts, I am delighted to say that every one of  my expectations was wholly fulfilled and what was true for me in that initial encounter with EFTRE remains true today. Through EFTRE, my work continues to be enriched and informed by collaboration and cooperation with colleagues in similar roles across Europe, EFTRE still has a strong commitment to hosting high quality conferences and other events and I have had so many wonderful times in wonderful cities with wonderful people, many of whom have become very dear friends as well as colleagues.

But much has also changed in the last two decades  – just days after the EFTRE Conference in Edinburgh came to an end, the world was reeling after the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. Since then, we have endured many other such attacks and not least on European soil. RE, a subject which often claims to make a particular contribution to the cultivation of respect for others and the promotion of community cohesion has had to face the challenges imposed by all such attacks, whatever their motivations might be. 

RE has also had to begin to grapple with other major concerns that have emerged more strongly since this century began – issues relating to climate change, to the marginalisation of certain ethnic and religious groups, to the role and status of women in society and to attitudes to sex, sexuality and gender. More recently of course, the pandemic has had a profound influence on the way many people think, act and feel and there have been – and will be – many more matters that challenge us in our professional and our personal lives.

As religious educators, we seek to provide the means to help our children and young people to navigate their way through this complex landscape and to engage with what is serious to them and to what is serious for others. At a time when increasing religious plurality and increasing secularism are to be seen in many of the countries from which we come, our task has perhaps become more complex than ever before.

EFTRE cannot claim to provide simple and easy solutions to the difficulties we face in these respects, but as our name suggests, we do provide a forum or meeting place where we can come together – virtually and in person – with those who are in a similar position to ourselves, although our contexts are never precisely the same. Our new website will be an invaluable tool for us to use in this respect, along with our other online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. We also plan to continue holding seminars several times a year on topics which should be of interest to all our members and friends. These will be via Zoom but we hope to conduct some of them in person when we can travel more easily and then they will coincide with Executive and Board Meetings in our various host cities and countries.

Finally, our forthcoming Conference will provide a more extended opportunity to identify, explore and evaluate some of the ways in which RE can create bridges over troubled waters, offering the spaces in which we hope every child and young person we support can receive the help they need to make sense of themselves and their place in their own country, in Europe and in the wider world. We very much hope you will want to part of that event and look forward to seeing you there!

Lesley Prior, Chair of EFTRE
London, October 2021

PILGRIM news:

PILGRIM news:

EFTRE news:

You are interested in how to use storytelling for making a case for Religious Education? Within the framework of the Cooperating Group on Religion in Education (CoGREE), the two EFTRE executive members Lesley Prior and Bianca Kappelhoff, recently co-organised an event series about exactly this topic:  

“Let’s tell our stories – the positive impact of religion in public education”

Read the report and access the presentations of the keynote speakers her below.

PILGRIM news:

EuFRES news:

Zapraszamy do lektury artykułu w tygodniku “Idziemy” na temat konferencji EuFRES 2021.

EuFRES news:

EuFRES organised the online conference on 9.04.2021 in virtual form according to the prevailing pandemic situation. The participation of more than 30 people responsible for RE from 7 European countries exceeded the expectations of the organisers and showed the importance of the topic “Religious Education in the time of the pandemic”.

The situation of RE under Corona conditions
Although the pandemic is a painful experience, it makes us discover that there is the possibility of a media-supported and thus broader and enriching exchange of experiences across linguistic, national, religious and denominational boundaries. This difficult time also makes us aware of the need to courageously build a Christian identity in order to work together to solve the problems that have arisen and are arising in education and religious education. Religious education teachers who are not always able to bear their own personal and growing problems in the classroom need special support. The time of the pandemic has made us aware once again how important it is to establish personal relationships, to accompany and support pupils. Likewise, pastoral support and accompaniment is necessary for RE teachers, parents and students. Therefore, there is also a call to strengthen the Christian family in passing on the faith in the home church. The involvement of the family (parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.) in the teaching and education process and the need for personal conversations with the students is essential.New situation of the RE in different European countries
In view of the various political and social problems that challenge religious education in schools, we consider it important to strengthen the presence of religious education in the space of the school systems in the countries. In the general social sphere, it is necessary to work towards a greater emphasis in the public consciousness on the issues relevant to religious education as irreplaceable, especially in times of crisis such as the present one.Assistance from school authorities, teacher training colleges, universities.
We want to reassure all RE teachers, educators, parents and pupils that they are not alone with their problems. We all face the same challenges and can get so much support, learn from each other, be with each other to create a good religion lesson. Finally, we can share our own problems and happiness, our own spirituality in families, at community level or in the church (online and offline). We should strive to build a network of relationships between religious education teachers in Europe, which ultimately needs to be real, not just virtual. Furthermore, in religious education we should strive for cooperation with all subjects in school events and projects. In this way, religious education will become irreplaceable in schools. An important task will be to reassure the teaching staff after the pandemic. For conflicts have arisen everywhere in society, between Covid 19 deniers and others, between responsible teachers and those who react hysterically. In initial and in-service training, the communicative media competence of teachers of religion must be valued. Therefore, it is important to organise additional training for them.Technology in the service of RE
While online education is an opportunity we must continue to use it in a pandemic situation, face-to-face contact is essential and we must restore it as soon as possible. Modern technology in educational communication should follow and serve education, not the other way round. There should be a long period for students to renew and deepen their contacts with their peer groups as a pedagogically and educationally important task. This is one of the priority tasks as it is a key element in the development of the pupils. Emerging problems make us aware of the need to reflect and fundamentally rethink the teaching and learning process also in its electronic version. It is not only about “digital tools” but about the general way education works today. It is necessary to change the model of teaching; therefore, it is necessary to depart from the rigid core curriculum and train teachers using new technologies and change the didactic model used so far. There is a need for methodological diversity that encourages more group/team work, but also for support from the school authorities in legal, didactic and methodological terms. We are convinced that it is worthwhile to use the many possibilities offered by the internet and its various tools. It is also necessary to train current and future teachers of religion so that they are not strangers to the online environment and know how to use it fluently. Even when the pandemic comes to an end, the knowledge and experience gained in this area will not have been in vain. Perhaps the fruit of this period will be a hybrid activity later on, where traditional service is complemented by online reality. Therefore, learning digital tools and computer forums should be possible as part of continuing education. Similarly, it is important to learn a specific language for digital teaching, including symbolic language, which can be understood in new ways today.

Kuratorium EuFRES, 13.04.2021