Catholic Religious Education in German Schools: An Ecumenical and Interreligious Perspective

Abstract

Catholic Religious Education is in a state of dramatic change. European societies have undergone an important transformation at the religious level, moving from a predominantly institutional and homogeneous Christian society to a heterogeneous religious society where religion tends to be a feature of a person’s individual responsibility. Traditional patterns of learning and teaching lose ground especially in the field of religious education. One of the greatest challenges to religious education in the “fluid modernity,” as social philosopher Zygmunt Bauman calls the upheaval of society towards individualization and detraditionalization, is to deal with plurality. The article shows how Catholic Religious Education in German schools answers to these challenges by becoming a subject that focuses on its two main duties, that is, (1) to help the students getting rooted in Catholic tradition and (ii) at the same time being competent for dialogue with other denominations and religions. These topics will be investigated through the current literature as well as through the use of recent empirical studies.