Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen

Logo of the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen

The house of the cathedral, seat of the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen

The Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen was founded in 2001 as an educational institution of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen and is located in the house of the cathedral in Dresden . It belongs to the network of Catholic academies in Germany and is the youngest academy in it. Its focus is on adult and continuing education .

History and structure

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Catholic academies were also founded in the new federal states. So in 1991 in Dresden of the independent association Catholic Academy Dresden eV

On the part of the diocese of Dresden-Meißen, educational work began on March 1, 2000 with the creation of the cathedral forum . This created a Christian discussion and discussion platform for religious, political, cultural and social issues within Saxon society. As a result, the Cathedral Forum had a similar educational mandate within the same target audience as the Catholic Academy Dresden eV Since the Dresden-Meißen Episcopal Ordinariate did not consider a dual structure of forum and association to be beneficial, financial support for the association was discontinued at the end of August 2001. The association offered a reduced program of events until 2002 and then disbanded.

The Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen was founded in July 2001 under the then Bishop Joachim Reinelt . The idea and goal of the project was to establish educational platforms in the large university towns of the diocese. Characteristic for the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen is therefore the focus on local forums.

The first director of the Catholic Academy of the Dresden-Meißen diocese was Joachim Klose, who headed the institution until 2006. He was followed by the Jesuit priest Clemens Maas, who was the academy director until 2016. The theologian Thomas Arnold has headed the academy since 2016. At the age of 28 he was the youngest head of a Catholic academy in Germany.

Forums and academy locations

The Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen offers with its local forums mainly events in the larger cities of Saxony: Agricolaforum Chemnitz, Kathedralforum Dresden, Novalisforum Freiberg, Leibnizforum Leipzig and Römerforum Zwickau. The idea behind this was to create interfaces to the interested public at the Saxon locations of university education for socially relevant issues and at the same time to take regional characteristics into account in a special way. The cathedral forum was initially founded in Dresden with a focus on culture. Two years later, in 2002, the Novalis Forum was created in Freiberg with a natural science aspect. The Agricolaforum in Chemnitz followed in 2003, with a focus on technical issues. A year later, a fourth external point was established with the Leibniz Forum in Leipzig. Also in 2019, the fifth forum was created with the Roman Forum in Zwickau. As an independent institution of the Dresden-Meißen diocese, the offices are located in the Dresden Cathedral House. Since 2019 there is another office of the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen in the premises of the Leipzig Provost Office St. Trinitatis.

Despite thematic differentiations, the request in all forums is to deal with current scientific, political and social issues and to take into account the connection to the religious dimension.

Areas of responsibility and fields of activity

The Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen offers a regular program of events with various cooperation partners. This particularly includes evening lectures and panel discussions as well as interdisciplinary weekend conferences, study days and excursions. Series of events and lecture series complete the offer. As it sees itself, it acts as a bridge builder between church and society: it is important to integrate the Catholic positions in the social discourse, to participate in current political decision-making processes and to maintain a responsible dialogue. The aim is not only to address an internal church audience, but also society as a whole.

Projects

In addition to the regular educational work in the individual forums, project work has been another focus since 2018. In this way, not only socially relevant topics are dealt with in a more profound and long-term manner, but also new regional areas are opened up as places of encounter and activity. For example, a specific feature of the Saxon Sofa and Café Hope projects was to consciously go to the rural areas of Saxony and organize educational offers there. The Café Hope was awarded the “Special Prize for an Innovative Project Idea” in 2019 as part of the “Catholic Prize against Xenophobia and Racism 2019” competition.

Further examples of projects carried out are Violins of Hope , Falling Position or the Oral History Project 89 and Ich . Historical topics and anniversaries, such as the commemoration of the Holocaust , the peaceful revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall, were specifically addressed and prepared for social discourse.

With its participation in the federal program Respekt Coaches , the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen also acts as an educational institution for political youth work.

Literature from academy staff

• Thomas Arnold / Michael Meyer (eds.): Look, there is the person. And god? Challenges of missionary spirituality (=  World Church Edition ). Matthias Grünewald Verlag , Ostfildern 2019, ISBN 978-3-7867-3134-4 .
• Thomas Sternberg / Alexander Gauland : Concern for the West? A dispute. St. Benno Verlag , Leipzig 2017, ISBN 978-3-7462-4927-8 ( reading sample online [pdf, 567 kB] [accessed on April 13, 2020]).
• Gerhard Poppe / Steffen Voss (eds.): Joseph Schuster in the music of the late 18th century (=  Forum Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik ). ortus musikverlag, Beeskow 2015, ISBN 978-3-937788-39-5 .
• Ulrich Rosseaux / Gerhard Poppe (eds.): Denomination and conflict Religious pluralization in Saxony in the 18th and 19th centuries . Aschendorff , Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-402-12944-9 .
• Albert Franz / Clemens Maaß (ed.): This side of silence. Speak of God today . Herder Publishing House , Freiburg im Breisgau 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-02240-1 .

Web links

Commons : House of the Cathedral  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Academy website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tomas Gärtner: Bishop Reinelt founds a new facility after differences with the association / content should remain unchanged . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung . July 7, 2001 ( paid online [accessed April 9, 2020]).
2. ↑ Tomas Gärtner: Non-profit association wants to continue work . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung . April 13, 2002 ( paid online [accessed April 9, 2020]).
3. ↑ Change in the leadership of the Catholic Academy of the diocese. Jesuit Father Clemens Maaß succeeds Dr. Joachim Klose as director of the academy. Diocese of Dresden-Meißen, 2006, accessed on April 13, 2020 . 
4. ^ Tomas Gärtner: Youngest director for the youngest Catholic Academy in Germany . In: Dresdner Latest News . April 20, 2016 ( paid online [accessed April 9, 2020]).
5. ^ Tomas Gärtner: Leibniz-Forum Leipzig as 4th branch / new information magazine . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung . January 10, 2004 ( paid online [accessed on April 9, 2020]).
6. ↑ A sofa for Saxony. Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen, January 8, 2019, accessed on April 9, 2020 . 
7. ↑ More variety on the hiking couch. Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen, January 10, 2019, accessed on April 9, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Award-winning: Café Hope. Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen, July 5, 2019, accessed on April 9, 2020 .