17. September 2025
COMMUNICATION INSTEAD OF SILENCE: 8TH FEDERAL CONGRESS OF COUNCILS OF RELIGIONS IN DIETZENBACH
On September 14 and 15, 2025, the 8th Federal Congress of Councils of Religions took place in Dietzenbach. Eighty-one delegates from 44 cities and counties exchanged ideas and tried out creative forms of dialogue. The focus was on how understanding and empathy can be promoted when the spoken word reaches its limits. The next Federal Congress will take place in Stuttgart in 2026.
HOW CAN UNDERSTANDING BE ACHIEVED WHEN SPEECHLESSNESS PREVAILS?
81 representatives of interfaith initiatives from all over Germany gathered in Dietzenbach. The district town in the Offenbach district, home to people from 113 nations, provided a special setting for this event.
The focus was on the question of how understanding and empathy can be achieved when speechlessness prevails. Mayor Dr. Dieter Lang, District Administrator Oliver Quilling, and Hessian Minister Heike Hofmann emphasized in their welcoming speeches the importance of interfaith dialogue for peaceful coexistence in pluralistic societies.
In her keynote speech, Mareike Ritter from the Religious Studies Media and Information Service (REMID e.V.) reported on her research into Jewish-Muslim art and culture festivals and highlighted the potential of alternative dialogue formats as a means of combating speechlessness.
CREATIVE FORMATS FOR SUCCESSFUL DIALOGUE
In workshops, a variety of alternative approaches for successful dialogue were presented and tested in practice:
- the interfaith music ensemble Coexist from Dresden,
- the HolyFlow festival in Cottbus,
- the Garden of Religions in Dietzenbach,
- the herbalism project HERBS by Religions for Peace,
- Jewish-Muslim tandems “Religion? All You Can Ask! ” by the Global Ethic Foundation,
- Abrahamic teams from the Abrahamic Forum Darmstadt,
- and the participatory theater of the People’s Theater Offenbach.
“It is important to keep talking despite our own uncertainties. Understanding thrives on listening to each other and tolerating dissent. The exchange not only moved me as someone involved in interfaith dialogue, but also made me incredibly proud as a native of Offenbach!”
NEXT FEDERAL CONGRESS IN STUTTGART
The next Federal Congress of Councils of Religions will take place on October 11 and 12, 2026, in Stuttgart. The Stuttgart Council of Religions presented its application and announced its intention to work with partners to highlight the city’s diversity.
The Federal Congress of Councils of Religions was founded in 2018 and has since been committed to promoting dialogue between religious communities at the local level. It promotes understanding, tolerance, and respect on the basis of the free democratic basic order. The congress network currently includes over 80 councils, round tables, and forums of religions. The Global Ethic Foundation has participated in an advisory capacity in the Federal Congress since its inception and supports it by offering workshops and providing input from the “Local Councils of Religions” project in Baden-Württemberg.
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