News and Press Releases

Between religious tradition and aesthetic innovation: Russian art and literature of the 19th and 20th centuries contain numerous references to icon painting – for example, in Sergei Eisenstein's film ‘Bežin lug ’ or Kazimir Malevich's ‘Black Square’. “References to icons reveal a worldview, one that is certainly also political in nature,” says Slavic scholar Irina Wutsdorff from the University of Münster, whose research at the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” focuses on the significance of icons in Russian art and literature, in an interview together with Daniela Amodio.

Religious sociologists Detlef Pollack and Gergely Rosta have published an updated and expanded new edition of one of the most comprehensive empirical studies of religious trends worldwide. In it, the authors emphasize that the importance of religion has declined dramatically worldwide—even in previously religious strongholds, and even predominantly Muslim countries such as Iran and Turkey have not been spared this religious decline. With the new edition of their standard work Religion in the Modern Age, the researchers provide an up-to-date overview of these developments.

A new international study by the University of Münster on processes of religious socialization shows that in times of declining religiosity in society, whether people become religious or non-religious depends crucially on their family. “Our surveys and family interviews in Germany, Finland, Italy, Canada, and Hungary show that in all countries, religion is passed on to the younger generation primarily when the family cultivates a religious self-image, engages in religious practices such as prayer or singing together, and both parents belong to the same denomination—with mothers playing the most important role,” explain sociologists of religion Christel Gärtner, Linda Hennig, and Olaf Müller. The key findings are summarized in the new book Families and Religion.

US art historian Taylor McCall kicked off the lecture and reading series “Aesthetic Conceptions of the Body between Religion and Politics” in the annual theme “Body and Religion” of the Cluster of Excellence by talking about the relationship between body and religion in medieval medicine.

American ethnographer and translator Deborah Kapchan will speak in Münster about religious subcultures in Morocco. In her evening lecture entitled “Face to Face with the Spirits: Embodying the Imagination,” she will present her research on the connection between the body and imagination at the Cluster of Excellence. The lecture will take place on May 13.

The human body in art and literature is the subject of a new series of lectures and readings organized by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster. The series also includes a reading from texts by the imprisoned Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who gave the Droste Reading at the Cluster of Excellence in 2024. The series kicks off on May 6 with a lecture by US art historian Taylor McCall entitled “Planetary Bodies: Religion and Medicine in Medieval Anatomical Images.”

On the death of Pope Francis, researchers in theology, religious studies and sociology of religion from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” have assessed his pontificate and the media interest it generated.

Ein Beitrag von Perry Schmidt-Leukel vom Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“ zum Tod des Papstes

According to researchers, public discussions about promoting diversity are often oversimplified. Sociologist Ines Michalowski from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster emphasizes that the effects of diversity measures vary greatly and depend on numerous factors – including in the field of religion. Against this backdrop, the University of Münster has established a new degree program in Diversity and Social Inequality, which specifically prepares students to deal with diversity issues in organizations. Registration opens on May 1.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2025 to Catholic theologian Michael Seewald from the University of Münster for his excellent research. In the video, he talks about his research in the field of systematic theology, particularly the history and hermeneutics of dogma, which shapes current theological debates on reform, change of faith and tradition.

Demons – according to researchers, these elusive beings, neither human nor divine, can be found in history, art and literature from antiquity to the present.In the interview “Of demons and devil's grimaces”, art historian Eva Krems, literary scholar Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf and historian Nikolas Funke talk about the approaches they take to the topic of “demons” in their respective research disciplines and where there are interdisciplinary similarities and differences. read more

In their new book Religionsunterricht 4.0 (Religious Education 4.0), legal scholar Hinnerk Wißmann and theologian Arnulf von Scheliha from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster examine the future of religious education in Germany and make a case for preserving denominational religious education. Their criticism of the model of non-denominational religious education: “It can hardly correspond to the religious plurality that is actually lived.” The German Basic Law is flexible enough to deal with challenges such as secularization and pluralization.

Organised by the Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Münster, an international conference will take place in Rome next week that focuses on the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago and its significance today. ‘The first ecumenical council in history formulated a creed that is still fundamental for almost all churches today. It unites Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians’, says Michael Seewald, Professor of Dogmatics and the History of Dogma from Münster, who is organising the interdisciplinary conference with his colleague Philipp G. Renczes SJ from the Pontifical Gregorian University

Church historian Hubert Wolf and his team have presented their initial findings of the researchproject ‘Asking the Pope for Help’ in Rome, among other things, at the German ambassador to the Holy See. During the Shoah, around 10,000 Jews wrote letters to the Catholic Church asking for information about their relatives, for money or help in escaping. The Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’ is involved in the large-scale project, where it is carrying out research on Romania and Brazil. read more

US anthropologist Naveeda Khan from Johns Hopkins University spoke at the Cluster of Excellence about the complex interrelationship between religious traditions, climate change and the experience of hunger. In her lecture, Khan shed light on this relationship by examining how the Muslim population along the South Asian river Jamuna in Bangladesh deals with climate crises such as hunger. The researcher, herself a native of Bangladesh, emphasized not only the political dimensions of famine but also the metaphysical and spiritual meaning of the everyday handling of food.