New Board of Trustees in Eichstätt: Church and politics in dialogue!

New Board of Trustees in Eichstätt: Church and politics in dialogue!

On February 21, 2025, the constitutive meeting of the new Board of Trustees of the Catholic University (KU) took place in the Eichstätt town hall. The invitation to this important event came from Eichstätter Mayor Josef Grienberger, who is himself a member of the board of trustees. This committee includes a large number of influential personalities, including the Bundestag member Dr. Reinhard Brandl and the state parliament members Tanja Schorer-Dremel and Alfred Grob. The district administrators Alexander Anetsberger and Martin Neumeyer are also part of the board of trustees, as is the long-time Eichstätter state parliament member Eva Gottstein.

In addition, representatives of the Catholic Church are represented on the board of trustees, including the Eichstätter Vicar General Michael Alberter and Dr. Matthias Belafi, head of the Bavarian Catholic Office. After the election of the new mayor of Ingolstadt, he will also be invited to serve on the board of trustees. The board of trustees has an advisory function and is expected to meet twice a year to intensify the existing relationships between church and politics and to support the KU in its profiling process.

Goals and functions of the Board of Trustees

The main goal of the board of trustees is to bring perspectives from local politics and church into the KU development process. At the meeting, Horst Seehofer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, emphasized the need to strengthen the exchange between the university and the political level. Seehofer reported on initial discussions with the Catholic Office in Berlin to intensify contact with federal and state politics.

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien, President of the KU, and Chancellor Eckhard Ulmer took the opportunity to provide information about the latest developments at the university. A central theme of the meeting was the relationship between church and politics, which operates in an area of ​​tension. Seehofer emphasizes the mutual dependence of church and politics and the need to integrate more spiritual attitudes into social policy.

The role of church and education

The importance of churches in society is also clear in the area of ​​education. Both the Evangelical and Catholic Churches are heavily involved in the area of ​​political education. According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, they assume social responsibility and have founded organizations such as the Evangelical Academies and the Catholic educational organizations. These institutions offer numerous events for political education and thus promote social discourse.

The Evangelical Academy in Berlin and the Catholic Academy hold several hundred events every year that deal with important social issues. The focus is on justice, solidarity and the common good, according to the principles of Catholic social teaching. These educational offerings are accessible not only to church members but also to the broader society and contribute to the general political education of the audience.

Current challenges and change processes

However, the churches in Germany also face challenges. A continuous decline in membership and the decline in church attendance represent a significant burden. Church service attendance in the Catholic Church is 13.7%, while in the Protestant Church it is only 3.7%. This development leads to increased competition from new religious alternatives and changes in people's individual religious practices.

In this context, churches strive to maintain and expand their influence in politics and society. Even though there are tensions between the churches and society, particularly with regard to issues such as religious education and church marriages, current developments show that dialogue and cooperation between the church and politics are more necessary than ever to ensure positive social influence.