Berlin-Brandenburg is home to the Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, the Institute for Catholic Theology, and the Faculty of Theology—all at the Humboldt University of Berlin—as well as the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam. The unique collocation of these four theological institutions offers exciting new opportunities for cooperative theological research and interreligious dialogue.
The Center for Interreligious Theology and Religious Studies (CITRS) encapsulates this potential into a research program with three guiding objectives: First, the center seeks to develop responses to the challenges posed by living in a multi-religious society. Second, it aims to foster interreligious cooperation and enhance connections between different religions through research that is both historical and contemporary. Third, the center is dedicated to creating research-based foundations and models for professional skills in intercultural and interreligious contexts.
As theological research broadens to include interreligious perspectives, its methodologies cannot remain at a standstill. Interreligious dialogue and interdisciplinary integration must go hand in hand. This is the essence of the intertheological approach, which integrates historical, systematic, and practical perspectives. A key focus of the center’s work is the interdisciplinary analysis of religious transformation processes in the past and present, guided by the premise that such transformations cannot be adequately addressed without a meticulous examination of their overt and obscure interdependencies.
This research program was created specifically for Berlin, where a unique mix of secularism and diverse religions prevails. Berlin is a city animated by distinct religions, where people from different faiths coexist and often participate in interfaith activities. At the same time, it is a city with a strong secular outlook, where many identify as non-religious and live their lives in this way. CITRS thus represents a pioneering initiative to connect the various religious and secular viewpoints and communities, cultivating a more congruous society via the medium of intertheological dialogue and research.
