IRD Activities

• Interreligious Outreach

  Having grown out of the shock and dismay about the Shoah the Coordinating Committee endeavours to take stock of and analyse available material on enmity against Jews. It develops methods for cooperation between Jews and Christians in pedagogy, theology and politics. The report of activities lists more or less the same work as every other of our partner organizations: organizing conferences, preparing lectures, editing a quarterly magazine and running a website. We set up a specialized library that can be visited and used by the public. Besides theological questions also under the historical aspect of Christian anti-Semitism other themes of conferences and seminars are globalisation, social and educational questions, and xenophobia. A focus of these activities is the cycle of lectures “Church and Judaism” in the frame of the Jewish Institute for Adult Education in Vienna each semester

• Scholar Pursuit

  Although the activities of the Coordinating Committee are mostly on the field of adult-education, we run a scholarly documentation project of the representation of Jews and Judaism in Christian Art in history and the present in Austria. We try to heighten awareness of anti-Semitic expressions in art, but particularly present positive examples too. The awareness of these pieces can be a starting point for discussing the achievements of Christian-Jewish renewal in the Churches since II Vatican Council. An exhibit “Ecclesia and Synagoga” was organized in 2003 (Vienna) and 2010/ 11 (Altenburg) showing negative representations of Judaism in Christian art beginning in the 10th century up till our time. It was shown at the Museum of the Archdiocese of Vienna and was a great success. The library of the Christian-Jewish Information Centre in Vienna containing about 4500 volumes is consulted by students and scholars who appreciate the pertinence of the provided material. Our quarterly magazine “Dialog-Du Siach/ Christian-Jewish Information” is one of the few publications on Christian-Jewish relations in German language and the only one in Austria

• Ministerial Outreach

  Inspiring und supporting the Christian-Jewish renewal of the Churches is the core issue of our Committee. Sermons, lectures in parishes and Christian communities are a regular task since the existence of the organisation. Additional introductory and advanced seminars for teachers are scheduled every year. Especially during the last years guided walks through Jewish Vienna offer a vivid impulse to a better understanding of various topics of Christian-Jewish relations. In the open-minded atmosphere in the Roman Catholic Church after II Vatican Council the Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation could contribute much to the Christian-Jewish renewal of the Church in Austria. The Committee has intensively cooperated with the Catholic Synod of the Archdiocese of Vienna and supported declarations of other Christian churches in Austria concerning the process of Christian-Jewish reconciliation. In 1989 the Coordinating Committee published guidelines for a sensible celebration of the Passion Week under the premises of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Stimulated by the Coordinating Committee for Christian Jewish-Cooperation, since 2000 a “Day of Judaism” is kept each January 17th by all churches in Austria upon the decision of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Austria

• Music Between Friends

  In 2012 we initiated a unique concert at the Benedictine monastery of Altenburg, about 80 km North-West of Vienna. It was not at all a formal interreligious conference but an emotional meeting between real friends

• Focus on Central Europe

  Given the role of Austria as a bridge building country in Central and Eastern Europe, the Committee has considered the initiation and promotion of Christian-Jewish dialogue in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary as one of its most important tasks by building networks and organizing regularly common conferences. The goal is to strengthen young initiatives in these countries and to transfer our knowledge and experience to theological questions regarding religious education. Every second year we organize a Christian-Jewish study week in Hungary (Koszeg). The Committee has initiated and organized the restoration of Christian graves at the Jewish Cemetery of the Vienna Zentralfriedhof. Christians and persons of no creed were buried there because they were considered Jews, non-Aryans by the NS regime according to the racial laws at that time.

Main Focus Countries of Activities

Austria - Austria - Austria - Altenburg, Austria - Vienna, Austria - Austria - Czechia - Slovakia - Hungary