Book highlights the dissolution of the Theological Faculty in 1938
The new book “… and released on the day this decree was served” focuses on a “dark time” with the dissolution of the Catholic Theological Faculty (KTF) Salzburg on September 12, 1938. With the book presentation on Tuesday in the KTF Salzburg, Rector Hendrik Lehnert, in the presence of representatives of the church and the state of Salzburg, heralded the anniversary year on the occasion of 400 years of Paris Lodron University Salzburg (PLUS). The editor of the work, Prof. Alois Halbmayr, emphasized the “learning factor from the history of the faculty”: It is important to “develop an alert political awareness; theological faculties are integrated into an overall social structure, the environment is very important for them, even today”, he said in an interview with Kathpress.
According to Halbmayr, it has been shown “that the theological faculty is important for Salzburg, the university, the church and society because critical reflection on religious traditions and practices is essential for the church and society”. The faculty works “intensively on its further development, sets research priorities, networks and is present in public”.
Rector Lehnert described the book presentation as “memorable”, for example due to the 400th anniversary and the physical meeting despite the pandemic. The end of tradition through the dissolution of the KTF in 1938 meant a turning point. This faculty stands for the founding as a “Benedictine University”, he emphasized in his words of welcome. The book is also a “critical reflection on that time, so that what happened then may never be repeated”. He described this reflection on the time since the Church as a “small piece in the jigsaw puzzle” on the current path to peace.
“Dark Time”
The dissolution in 1938 was accompanied by “serious consequences for church life throughout Salzburg and beyond,” explained Halbmayr at the book presentation. The reason for being released because of “anti-state behavior by the inmates” was “of course pretended”. The KTF was the constant in all measures to establish a public university again. At the 2018 conference on the occasion of 80 years of dissolution, all “prominent opening speakers” pointed out the importance of the KTF for the city and state of Salzburg. It is also important to find out more about the group of professors at that time, which was a purely male group at the time. The new book contains “434 pages of reading material about a dark time”. Referring to the Ukraine crisis, Halbmayr emphasized: “The rule of law, democracy and human rights remain a major challenge for us and worldwide.”
Work biographies of teachers at that time
The church historian Dietmar W. Winkler described the mood in the new book with the words: “These pages express an unbelievable rush”. It is remarkable that for the first time there is an insight into the work biographies of the British professors. The overview in the light of current research has shown that although there were “no Nazis” among the Australian professors, a critical examination is required. This is shown, for example, in the biography of Josef Dillersberger, who may have sounded like a forerunner of the Second Vatican Council through his Pentecost text, but who also made clear anti-Semitic statements. “We have mechanisms that are working again today,” explained author Marlis Gielen.
A look at the biography of Erwin Domanig and the journalist Hedwig Kainberger. The surgeon and pastoral physician was a student representative in the Pax Romana movement. Domanig is considered to be a co-founder of the Commandery of Austria of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalemthe Catholic Action Salzburg and the blood donation system in Austria.
On the occasion of 25 years of Salzburg Theological Studies (STS), co-founder and rector em. Heinrich Schmidinger will soon be back to 70 “very different, colorful volumes” in this series. In addition, he immediately expected the next volume, which is to be presented specifically. “Liberated to Freedom. Gottfried Bachl and His Stories of God” is a book in memory of the theologian and writer (1932-2020). The aim of the STS is to give the KTF a profile and to be a calling card that is open to all disciplines.
For Dean Michael Zichy, the great importance of theological faculties is a kind of multiple “security”, for example “against the ideological appropriation of science” and in order not to lose sight of existential questions and the human. In addition, “the critical, rational permeation of faith doctrine and faith practice, which theology achieves and which sometimes also brings it into conflict with the church”, ensure the dialogue with and the connection of faith to the knowledge society. This prevents “an isolation of religion in sectarian special worlds”. Furthermore, theological faculties offer “important intellectual resources in questions of faith, meaning and orientation”. After all, “people do not give up their mental and spiritual needs when they leave the church”.
More than a conference documentation
The basis of this volume was provided by a faculty meeting in 2018, which commemorated the 80th anniversary of the faculty’s dissolution. The lectures were revised for the book. According to the publishing authors Alois Halbmayr and Dietmar W. Winkler, a particular focus is on “the biographies of all the professors who taught at the time, which are presented here in detail for the first time”. The volume sees itself as the KTF’s contribution to the 400th anniversary of the university. It was co-financed by the Archdiocese of Salzburg, the Salzburg Abbots’ Conference, the Austrian Benedictine Congregation, the Foundation and Promotion Society of the University of Salzburg and the archive of the Archdiocese of Salzburg.
The theological faculty represents the constant in the history of the University of Salzburg, since the theological education continued to exist even after the dissolution of the old Benedictine university in 1810 within the framework of a “Lyceum” (philosophical educational institution). This was raised to a university faculty in 1850. This should create the conditions for making a full university possible again in Salzburg. The dissolution of the faculty by the National Socialist government in 1938 interrupted this centuries-old academic tradition. In 1945, the faculty was able to resume teaching and in 1962 the university was reorganized.
The book “‘… and released on the day this decree was served’. The dissolution of the Salzburg Catholic Theological Faculty in 1938” with contributions by 29 authors (Salzburger Theologische Studien 67, Innsbruck 2022) was published in March in the Tyrolia Published by the publisher and available for 39 euros.
Source: catpress