A heart for a living ecumenism
Why are you involved in Together for Europe?
I’ve always been interested in a lived ecumenism, where people meet at eye level, try understand one other, and to learn and benefit from one other in faith. As a Protestant Christian, I find myself in a minority situation in Austria, which is why I am always especially happy when I can speak to the Catholic brothers and sisters in our Church. This fruitful exchange happens regularly in our group in Styria (Austria) of Together for Europe. Here, genuine friendships and mutual appreciation have developed.
Do you feel European at heart?
Of course! I was born in Graz in 1965, about 50 kilometres from what was then Yugoslavia in the south and Hungary in the east. In other words, not far from the ‘Iron Curtain’ which separated the West from the East. For me, as a child and even as a young adult, the world beyond it was foreign and distant, while today you can reach it in 45 minutes by car or train! I have always been connected to Eastern Europe, however, because my maternal grandparents came from what is now Hungary, and Slovenia. At the time it was all part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and they arrived in Graz around 1910.
I am happy and grateful that today many people from the former Eastern Bloc can come to Austria. There have also been wonderful encounters here in Graz in recent years, at the international meetings of Together for Europe celebrating Europe Day in May.
Why is the Friends’ meeting in Graz this year?
Graz has a particular religious history: in the 16th century the Reformation found fertile ground here, as in many other regions of present-day Austria. Even today, evidence of this can be seen in Graz, such as the Landhaus, built by Protestants at the time; or the memorial plaque of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler, a Protestant, who taught in Graz.
In 1997, the ‘Second European Ecumenical Assembly’ was held here, with thousands of guests from all over Europe. In 2017, on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, a memorial plaque was unveiled in the courtyard of the Landhaus. It bears the words ‘Gegeneinander – Nebeneinander – Miteinander’ (one against the other – close to each other – together), which succinctly express the eventful history of the faith. I think this was one of the main reasons why Graz was chosen.
You also work as a cabaret artist, performing in churches with your colleague Oliver Hochkofler. Do faith and humour go together?
Yes, they do! Who, if not us Christians, can laugh for the joy of the Gospel? Of course, not every kind of joke or cabaret has its place in a church. Moreover, we would never make fun of Jesus or the Bible. On the contrary: Oliver and I want to use our programmes to show how beautiful and enriching faith can be, to invite people to discover the treasure of the gospel in a humorous and informative way. In our new programme ‘Out of the blue – With the Church around the cross’, we take a look at individual focal points, but above all at what the denominations have in common. Of course, we also shed light on this or that challenge that the churches are facing. And when visitors distant from the Church say after the programme that they learned something and took away an idea or two, we are happy.
Edited by Beatriz Lauenroth
