Last April 20th, the Kircher Network´s HEST Cluster on Christian – Muslim Relations celebrated a Democracy and Religious Traditions webinar. The HEST Cluster´s coordinators (professors Tobias Specker, Michaela Neulinger and Gonzalo Villagrán) invited two keynoted speakers. Professor Wolfgang Palaver from Innsbruck Faculty of Theology discussed the topic of religion and democracy in Jeffrey Stout’s work. And Professor Amir Dziri from Fribourg University, Switzerland, addressed the concept of tradition in Islam and its social implications. 11 researches from the Philosophisch – Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen (Frankfurt), Innsbruck University Faculty of Theology and the Loyola University Andalusia attended the seminar.
The webinar began with professors Palaver and Dziri´s speeches, which helped the participants discuss and foresee ways to understand the concepts of tradition in Christianity and Islam and how they can enter into a dialogue with modern pluralistic societies.
The participants had the opportunity to engage in discussion with the speakers invited. They stressed the need to develop a dialogical understanding of traditions and acknowledge pluralism inside religious traditions. They also examined the particular circumstances of Europe and their implications for the public presence of the religious traditions. At the end of the webinar, the participants had a short moment of an Ignatian Exam and shared the emotions that moved them during the event.
Thankfulness for the opportunity of sharing and dialogue was a shared feeling among all participants. The HEST Cluster´s coordinators also thanked both the speakers, especially professor Amir Dziri for giving voice to the Muslim tradition and the researchers for sharing their knowledge. The participants concluded the event by greeting their Muslim companions attending the webinar for the holy month of Ramadan. They are celebrating these days, Ramadan Mubarak!
