LOCATIONS:

• Abbey of Melk (Abt-Berthold-Dietmayr-Straße 1, 3390 Melk):
  • Sunday, February 2nd, 2:30 to 7:00 p.m.
  • Monday, February 3rd, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• University of Vienna (Universitätsring 1, 1010 Wien):
  • Tuesday, February 4th, 9:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m.
    • Deans Office at the Faculty of Catholic Theology (Main Building of the University of Vienna, Staircase 8, 2nd floor):
  • Tuesday, February 4th, 7:00 to 08:00 p.m.: Public Lecture by H. B. Dr. Lic. Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem)
    • Franz-König-Saal (Main Building of the University of Vienna, Lecture Hall 6)

In view of the many crises that are currently threatening humanity in general and the relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in particular, this conference aims to focus on the fundamental question that unites these three Abrahamic religions: the possible manifestation of the one God and its corresponding mission. This question not only represents the common center of theological reflection, but is also closely linked to the demand of living according to this mission. Therefore, it also affects the coexistence of members of the religions mentioned , for Judaism, Christianity and Islam each claim that the Torah, Jesus and the Qu’ran respectively have been ‘revealed’ to them. For this reason, the question of the significance of and the relation to the two others is intrinsically connected to the question of the One God.

The international conference One God? One Mission? will consist of two parts: the first bilateral part (Christianity and Islam) will take place in February 2025; the second trilateral part (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) in February 2027. The last panel of the conference, including inputs from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish scholars, functions as a bridge towards the second trilateral part in 2027. The aim of both parts is to renew and deepen our understanding of what links the three so-called Abrahamic Religions without blurring their differences.

For this occasion, the Research Centre Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society of the University of Vienna, in cooperation with the University of Montreal and the University of Loppiano, has invited internationally recognized scholars from all three Abrahamic religions to discuss the significance of the respective other. The underlying thrust of the conference is that it is through the other that one’s own tradition can become more profoundly comprehensible.

The detailed conference programme can be found here.

If you are interested in the conference, please register per mail at marian.weingartshofer@univie.ac.at by January 17, 2025. Attention: Only limited space available.

With presentations by:

• Prof. Dr. Dr. Isabella Guanzini (Catholic Private University of Linz/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Adnane Mokrani (Pontifical Gregorian University/Rome/Italy)
• Prof. Dr. Dina El Omari (University of Münster/Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Aysun Yaşar (University of Vienna/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Fr. Guy-Raymond Sarkis (Saint Joseph Jesuit University / Beirut / Lebanon)
• Prof. Dr. Klaus von Stosch (University of Bonn/Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Regina Polak (University of Vienna/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Roberto Catalano (Sophia University Institute of Loppiano/Florence Italy)
• Mag. Awi Blumenfeld (University of Vienna/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Zekirija Sejdini (University of Innsbruck/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Jakob Deibl (University of Vienna/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide (University Münster/Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Bernhard Callebaut (Sophia University Institute of Loppiano/Florence Italy)
• Prof. Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Ali Shomali (Teheran/Iran)
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Kurt Appel (University of Vienna/Austria)
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Piero Coda (Sophia University Institute of Loppiano/Florence Italy)
• Prof. Dr. Patrice Brodeur (University of Montreal/Canada)
• Prof. Dr. Susannah Heschel (Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College)
• H. B. Dr. Lic. Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem)