CUC Representatives at the 29th International Renovabis Congress in Berlin

From 9 to 11 September 2025, the 29th International Congress of the Renovabis Foundation was held in Berlin, with the Catholic University of Croatia represented by Rector Prof. Željko Tanjić, Ph.D., and Assoc. Prof. Josip Bošnjaković, Ph.D., from the Department of Psychology.

The congress, titled “Inviolable and Vulnerable. Human Dignity Between Universal Demand and Social Lines of Conflict in Europe”, took place at the Catholic Academy in Berlin and gathered more than 200 participants from 26 countries, including representatives of the Church, academia, politics, and civil society. Its aim was to deepen the understanding of human dignity, highlight its contemporary challenges, and strengthen awareness of the responsibility of all social actors for its preservation.

IKA reports that on the first day, the participants were welcomed by Thomas Schwartz, General Director of Renovabis, followed by Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin, President of the Renovabis Action Council, who emphasized the event’s role as a meeting point and dialogue between East and West.

The program included a keynote lecture by Prof. Ingeborg Gabriel, professor of social ethics at the Catholic University of Vienna, who recalled the responsibility “before God and man” from the German Constitution’s preamble and warned that human dignity is an increasingly endangered ideal today. Johann Saathoff, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, stressed that a vibrant civil society is the defender of freedom, democracy, and dignity, beginning at the local level. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, President of the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv, addressed the congress online, sharing testimonies from war-torn Ukraine under the title “Courage for Dignity.” Her key message: “Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”

On the second day, a discussion on assisted suicide was held with contributions from Prof. Roman Globokar (University of Ljubljana), Sr. Giustina Olha Holubets (bioethicist and founder of the perinatal hospice Otisak života in Lviv), Prof. Jean-Pierre Wils, and Prof. Andreas Lob-Hüdepohl. The discussion highlighted different national contexts, from Slovenia’s growing public support for assisted dying to Ukraine’s focus on more urgent war-related challenges. The day concluded with a solemn Mass at the newly renovated St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, presided over by Archbishop Koch together with bishops and priests, including Apostolic Nuncio to Germany Archbishop Nikola Eterović.

The final day featured presentations on “From Image to Reality – Voices on Human Dignity from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe,” with speakers from Bulgaria, Armenia, and Ukraine. The congress concluded with a panel titled “The Future of Human Dignity in Europe – The Role of the Church in Addressing Urgent Issues.”

Closing remarks were delivered by Renovabis Director Thomas Schwartz and Archbishop Heiner Koch, who reminded participants: “We are great not because we made ourselves great, but because we are from the very beginning and forever gifted and endowed by God.”

Among the participants were several from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Rector Željko Tanjić (Catholic University of Croatia), Fr. Tomislav Glavnik (Director of Caritas Croatia), Msgr. Tomo Knežević (Director of Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Tomislav Markić (Director of Pastoral Care for Croatians Abroad).

Renovabis is an initiative of solidarity by German Catholics with the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe. Established in March 1993 by the Central Committee of German Catholics under the patronage of the German Bishops’ Conference, Renovabis supported 29,914 projects worth a total of €899 million between its founding and the end of February 2025.

Text and photos: IKA