Religious discourses in Western democracies

The interreligious dialogue initiative “Religious Discourses in Western Democracies—Christian-Jewish Study Week in Dialogue with Islam” takes place every two years in the beautiful setting of the Schlosshotel Seggauberg during the second half of July. Since 2024, it has been under the direction of Franz Winter and is thus administered by the Department of Religious Studies. Since its founding in 2017, the initiative has addressed a central social concern: reflecting on the role of religion in heterogeneous and increasingly pluralistic societies and examining it from as many different perspectives as possible in the form of a study week. It has a long history and actually builds on the tradition of the Austrian Christian-Jewish Bible Week at the Bildungshaus Mariatrost, which was held with great success for 25 years (until 2007) and was significantly shaped by the Graz-based Old Testament scholar Irmtraud Fischer. The relaunch of this initiative in 2017 was also accompanied by a reorientation of its content; in particular, the inclusion of Islam—as well as the recurring focus in some presentations at recent events on other globally relevant religious traditions—represented a response to current societal developments. Following the themes of Peace and Conflict (2017), Gender in the three Monotheistic Religions (2019), Food and Drink in Religions (2022), and Art in Religions (2024), the Dialogue Initiative in 2026 turns its attention on one of the central issues in the contemporary debate on religions and their role in society: Religions and Politics: A Complex Relationship.