Visit by a delegation from Germany

Today we were visited by a delegation from Germany, accompanied by the President of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Dr Andrej Saje.

We discussed the challenges currently facing theology and the Church in Germany, and identified where similar issues arise in Slovenia. Also present were Assoc. Prof. Dr David Kraner, Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs, and Prof. Dr Roman Globokar, Professor of Moral Theology and Head of the research programme ‘Religion, Ethics, Education and the Challenges of Contemporary Society’.

Guests: Auxiliary Bishop Dr Gerhard Schneider of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, and Dr Mihael Seewald, Professor of Dogmatic Theology from Munich.

Dr Mihael Seewald

In the summer term of 2026, Professor Michael Seewald will take up the Chair of Dogmatic Theology at the Catholic Faculty of Theology at LMU. He was born in 1987 in Saarbrücken. After studying theology, philosophy and political science in Tübingen, Pune (India) and Frankfurt am Main, he obtained his doctorate from LMU in 2011. Following his habilitation in 2015, he was appointed to the Chair of Dogmatic Theology and History of Dogma (W3) at the University of Münster. At the age of 29, he was one of the youngest professors in the humanities in Germany. Since 2017, Seewald has been the principal investigator of the University of Münster’s Excellence Group ‘Religion and Politics’, and since 2022 he has also served as its press spokesperson. In addition, Michael Seewald has been a full member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2023 and a permanent fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin since 2024. His books have been translated into ten languages. His book *Dogma im Wandel* is regarded as a standard work in the history of dogma. Seewald’s research has received several awards, including the Karl Rahner Prize for theological research and the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize from the DFG. In 2025, he received Germany’s most prestigious scientific award, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, which came with a prize of 2.5 million euros. Katja Becker, President of the DFG, paid tribute to Seewald’s “virtuoso innovative power” at the award ceremony and described his work as groundbreaking.

© Maurice Weiss/Ostkreuz

Kontaktseite - Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät - LMU München
Portrait Prof. Dr. Michael Seewald - Twelve months, twelve people - December
Leibniz Prize winner Michael Seewald joins LMU - LMU Munich

Auxiliary Bishop Dr Gerhard Schneider

Gerhard Schneider is an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. In addition, he fulfils several roles within the diocese:

• he is a member of the cathedral chapter and participates in the work of the diocesan ordinariate,
• he is a member of the diocesan council in an advisory capacity,
• he is a member of the council of priests,
• he is responsible for the area comprising the deaneries of Balingen, Rottweil and Tuttlingen-Spaichingen,
• he chairs the Commission for Liturgy,
• he chairs the Commission for Church Music,
• he chairs the Supervisory Board of the College of Church Music,
• he is currently chair of the Commission for Sacred Art.
• He is also a member of the executive committee of the Diocesan Art Society and the St Cecilia Association, and a member of the Diocesan Historical Society.