Source: ds_30/Pixabay, Collage Renovabis
About the congress
Renovabis has been organising an annual international congress on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference since 1997. This event with participants from all parts of Europe serves to inform about and discuss important developments in church and society in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and also addresses topics of pan-European importance. Over the years, the International Congress Renovabis has developed into an important forum for dialogue between people from the eastern and western parts of Europe.
Congress 2024
After seven years, the 28th International Congress Renovabis on the topic „Having a Mission – bearing credible Witness. Dealing with Secularisation and religious Indifference in Europe“ – will take place for the first time again in Freising, where Renovabis' offices are located, from 10 to 12 September 2024. This time, it will be dedicated to the Diocese and city anniversary .
Congress topic 2024
St Corbinian is considered the first bishop of the city. He was initially a hermit but then lived and testified to the Christian faith as a missionary. Inspired by this saint, the congress will look at how the Christian message can be positively perceived today as an individual resource of meaning and hope as well as a socially effective force - especially through credible people. It will be about analysing the situation and the question of how the church can deal with secularisation and the religious indifference that is widespread in large parts of Europe, because basically everyone wants to lead a successful life. However, for many, this is obviously also possible without reference to a higher power.
In addition to similar developments in East and West, the – in some cases quite different – experiences with church reconstruction, sometimes in an anti-religious or areligious environment in the former communist countries in Eastern Europe, and the different relationships between church and state today will enrich the discussion, making it interesting and certainly fruitful.
We cordially invite you to lectures, panels and discussions in dialogue groups. Professors Jan Loffeld, Tomáš Petráček and Detlef Pollack as well as Archbishop Dr Heiner Koch have already agreed to provide impulses and contribute to the discussions. In a public evening event taking place as part of the congress in cooperation with the Domberg-Akademie Freising, moderated by Dr Claudia Pfrang, Bishop Dr Tomáš Holub and the Bavarian cabaret artist Christian Springer will discuss the topic „Where is God today?“.
For guests arriving on 10 September, we offer guided tours of the Bavarian State Exhibition „Tassilo, Korbinian and the Bear – Bavaria in the early Middle Ages“, starting at 3 p.m. At 7 p.m., we will celebrate a Vespers in the Byzantine rite with the Exarch for the Catholic Ukrainians of the Byzantine rite in Germany and Scandinavia, Bishop Dr Bohdan Dzyurakh CSsR, in the city parish church of St. George. This will be followed by the opening of the exhibition „Icons against war“.
Organisational information
Venue of the congress (plenary):
Asamsaal (Asam building), Marienplatz 7, D-85354 Freising
Conference languages: German, English and Italian.
The official invitations will be sent out mid-June 2024. Updated information on the programme of the congress and an online registration form will then also be available on this page. We ask for your understanding that until then registration is not yet possible.
If you need accommodation in Freising, you can find out in advance about hotel rooms by clicking on the bilingual PDF in the orange-coloured info box and book them even now.
If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to kongress@renovabis.de.
We look forward to meeting and talking to you!