Research focus areas
Multidisciplinary religious studies
Religious studies at the Faculty of Catholic Theology take a multidisciplinary approach. Through the “Religion and Transformation” initiative, religion-related research activities at the University of Vienna are consolidated in close cooperation with other faculties, given international visibility, and strengthened in terms of their societal relevance. With its disciplinary diversity – Catholic Theology, Orthodox Theology, Islamic Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy of Religion, Aesthetics, Ethics, Religious Law, and History of Religion – the faculty makes a significant contribution to this effort.
Research examines how religions shape narratives, horizons of meaning and life, values, aesthetics, and institutions, while at the same time being transformed by societal processes of change. The focus is on religions in Austria and Vienna, as well as their responses to global challenges such as the loss of tradition and identity, the diversity of religious and non-religious sources of meaning, ecological crises, digitalization, artificial intelligence, social inequality, and the questioning of liberal democracy.
Other key research areas include the transformation of the question of God and religious motifs in art, literature, and religious practice; the transformation of Christian and Islamic self-understanding; Jewish-Christian dialogue; contemporary religious cultures in the context of migration and education; and the hermeneutics of religious texts and practices in their normative, ethical, aesthetic, and legal dimensions.
Catholicity and theology in contemporary discourse
The Catholic Church is the world’s largest institutionalized religious community. This is reflected in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna, where students and faculty from every continent are active. The faculty trains numerous future decision-makers in the Global South, as well as student teachers and pastoral workers.
Through the diversity of its disciplines, the faculty explores the foundations of Catholicism as it operates on a global scale. The focus is on the question of God, the hermeneutical interpretation of biblical texts and theological traditions, and the critical reflection on the influence of Catholicism on society and politics. It examines their biblical, historical, theological, philosophical, liturgical, and legal foundations, as well as their aesthetic, ritual, institutional, and practical manifestations within the tension between modernity, autonomy, peace, and justice.
This key research area shapes the faculty’s research and teaching and promotes interdisciplinary and cross-faculty dialogue as well as ecumenical perspectives. A particular area of focus is the scholarly examination of the Eastern Churches. The faculty’s long-standing expertise encompasses the entire field of Eastern Church studies, particularly the Catholic Eastern Churches as well as Orthodox theological and liturgical traditions. With its bachelor’s and master’s programs in Orthodox Religious Education, the faculty offers a range of degree programmes unique in Western Europe that strengthens interdenominational understanding in Austria and Europe.
Ethical challenges in a global society
The researchers at the faculty address a wide range of ethical issues. Their focus is on the contribution of Christianity and other religions to ecological and social sustainability, as well as the transformation processes required to achieve these goals. In the field of bioethics, the faculty maintains international collaborations with partners from nearly all European countries and contributes to the medical ethics education of students across all faculties. Based on a Christian and humanistic view of humanity, it examines issues related to healthcare as well as technological-ethical challenges such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and modern technologies in medicine and the media.
Other key research areas include migration, poverty, political ethics, gender studies, global justice, and basic research on intercultural theological ethics. Since 1990, the faculty has been part of the European Values Study Group and has established itself as an internationally recognized center for interdisciplinary values research that integrates empirical and hermeneutic disciplines.
Based on an anthropology grounded in philosophy and theology, the Ethics program—drawing on competence in philosophy, the social sciences, religious studies, social ethics, and theological ethics—makes a significant contribution to scholarly reflection on societal challenges. In doing so, the faculty combines interdisciplinary perspectives with an understanding of human dignity, human rights, and democratic coexistence to develop sustainable solutions to ethical issues.
