Christopher Zarnow
Urban Theology
The Author explores the theological dimensions of city life. Christianity originated as an urban religion, yet cities have long faced theological critique – seen as godless, alienating spaces contrasted with idealized rural life. The secularization thesis once equated urbanization with the decline of religion, but today’s metropolis proves to be a site of rich religious diversity and productivity. Zarnow argues for empirical study of urban religious cultures and, drawing on Simmel, examines how city life shapes the inner life – generating tensions between individuality and anonymity that find resonance in Christian symbolism and spiritual longing.
In the City, Religion Still Remains an Open Option
Interview with Jan Loffeld
This interview with a German Roman Catholic priest and professor of pastoral theology, author of the book Wenn nichts fehlt, wo Gott fehlt: Das Christentum vor der religiösen Indifferenz, the Czech translation of which generated considerable discussion in local theological and religious circles, explores various questions concerning the relationship between the city and Christianity, whether it is the countercultural potential of Christianity, the ability to become a minority again, the attitude towards the ancestral heritage, or the search for new forms of evangelization. According to Loffeld, one of the main conditions for the viability of Christianity in modern times is tolerance within the church and respect for pluralism, as today’s big cities teach us.
Matěj Jirsa
Megalopolis as World Icon and Locus Theologicus
The Phenomenon of the City in the View of Pope Francis
Drawing on Pope Francis’s theological vision, this essay explores the megacity as both an icon of the world and a locus theologicus – a place where God can be encountered. Rooted in Francis’s own upbringing in Buenos Aires, his theology does not flee urban complexity but engages it. The city reveals poverty, diversity, and human dignity all at once. Christians are called to resist the temptation to retreat into safe enclaves, to embrace the peripheries, and to build shared public spaces that foster community. Ecological concern and respect for human dignity are inseparable in this urban vision.
Tomáš Sixta
Theologian Harvey Cox and the Christian Man in a Big City that Is Not without God
In his study, the Czech theologian and comparatist presents the work and thoughtof the American theologian and clergyman Harvey Cox, author of the popular work The Secular City. The study introduces the basic contours of his theology, focusing in particular on its origins in the theology of secularization, the basic themes and development of his thought, as well as on one of his later books, The Market as God. On this personal example and theological approach, the author shows that theology can fulfill its role only when it addresses the challenges of the contemporary world, and above all the experiences of contemporary human beings.
Harvey Cox
New Perception of Space and Church Architecture
In this essay, Harvey Cox examines the theological significance of space and church architecture in the modern city. Drawing on biblical tradition – from Moses to Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman – he argues that Christianity has consistently relativized sacred places, liberating space from magic and sacrality toward a fully human purpose. Cox traces four stages of desacralization and contends that the answer to today’s dehumanizing abstraction of space lies not in a return to the sacred, but in embracing a genuinely human scale – building cities and churches designed for people.
Norbert Schmidt
Berlin and Its Pantheon
The City and the Building as a Palimpsest
This study explores Berlin as an urban palimpsest – a city whose layered history is inscribed in its architecture. From its modest medieval origins through Prussian imperial ambitions, Nazi megalomania, Cold War division, and post-reunification reconstruction, Berlin has been continuously rewritten. The study culminates in the story of St. Hedwig’s Cathedral – Berlin’s Pantheon – tracing its transformations from an Enlightenment-era Catholic church to its controversial 2024 renovation, which sparked debate about memory, identity, and the Church’s relationship to tradition and renewal.
St. Hedwig in Berlin
Interview with Archbishop Heiner Koch
In an interview with Norbert Schmidt, Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch reflects on the city’s diversity, complexity, and deep historical wounds. He discusses the renovation of St. Hedwig’s Cathedral – reopened in 2024 – as both a spiritual and architectural project aimed at creating an open, synodal space for believers and seekers alike. Koch speaks about the challenges of dialogue within the Church, the witness of martyrs under Nazism, and the importance of trust as the foundation for confronting today’s political and social tensions.
Lutz Krutein
Daniel Moser – The Artist Who Sees Almost Nothing
Daniel Moser, born in 1983 in Baden-Württemberg, is a visually impaired artist who retains only a narrow tunnel of sight. This unique perception directly shapes his work: he builds images from small, densely layered scenes, each capturing what fits within his limited visual field. His urban landscapes blend real cityscapes with science fiction, personal experience, and documentary imagination. Since 2013 he has worked at the IDYLLEREI studio in Nuremberg, and his work has been exhibited at the Outsider Art Fair in Paris and New York.