Maria Widl

Maria Widl (* 1957 in Vienna ) is an Austrian Roman Catholic pastoral theologian .

Life

She studied Catholic theology and mathematics at the University of Vienna , then she was a research assistant at Paul Zulehner's Institute for Pastoral Theology for ten years . In 1983 she acquired the degree of Mag. Rer. nat. and in 1986 the degree of Mag. theol. She passed her teaching examination (second state examination ) for secondary schools in 1987. A three-year engagement in the correspondence course for theological education of the Austrian Bishops' Conference was followed in 1995 by a three-year APART research grant from the Austrian Academy of Sciences . A visiting professorshipled her to the Faculteit Godgeleerdheid of the KU Leuven . She conducted research at the universities of Münster , Paderborn , Tübingen , Freiburg im Üechtland , Bielefeld and Würzburg . From 2002 to 2011 she was the scientific director of the Pastoral Theological Institute of the Pallottines in Friedberg (Bavaria) . Since October 2005 she has been teaching as a university professor for pastoral theology, homiletics and religious education at the University of Erfurt . She is currently Vice Dean of the Erfurt Faculty. Since 2011 she has been advising the Pastoral Commission of the German Bishops' Conference and is the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Theology .

Her research interests are church development in the face of postmodernism, the role of the religious in secular cultures, the development of congregations, religious orders and movements, as well as the role of religious education and spirituality in postmodernism, all of this especially with a view to an elementary exploration of the faith and its evangelizing Shape in the midst of secularity and especially in the context of Eastern Germany and Central / Eastern Europe.

Fonts (selection)

• Boltzmann study. New Age in the classroom (= work folder sects, special religious communities, world views . Number 71). Working Group of the Austrian Pastoral Offices , Department for Weltanschauung questions, Vienna 1989, OCLC 75510627 .
• Longing religion. New religious forms of culture as a challenge for the practice of the churches (= European university publications. Series 23 Theology . Volume 501). Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / New York / Paris / Vienna 1994, ISBN 978-3-631-46324-6 (also dissertation, Vienna 1992).
• Christianity and esotericism. Representation, discussion, demarcation . Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-222-12354-3 .
  • Jaroslav Vokoun as translator: Křest'anství a esoterika. Nové duchovní proudy jako výzva církvím . Karmelitánské Nakladat., Kostelní Vydří 1997, ISBN 80-7192-217-X .
• Little pastoral theology. Realistic pastoral care . Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-222-12528-7 .
• Pastoral world theology. Developed transversely with social pastoral care (= practical theology today . Volume 48). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Berlin / Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-17-016431-7 (also habilitation thesis, Würzburg 1999).
• with Andrea Schulte: Follow the star !. Missionary projects at the Christmas market (= Erfurt theological writings . Volume 36). Echter, Würzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-429-03033-9 .
• The people of God on the way through postmodernism. A little pastoral theology . Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Ostfildern 2018, ISBN 3-7867-3070-9 .

Web links

• Maria Widl's website at uni-erfurt.de
• Maria Widl in the Who is Who of the University of Erfurt (has not been updated since 2020)