Invitation to the 2026 Online Training Session - What Is Residential Pastoral Care?

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you’ve all had a good start to the new year. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all success, good health, and—when needed—the strong nerves that are sometimes required.

As announced in our Christmas message, I’d like to extend a warm invitation on behalf of the entire Board to this year’s online training session!

In this year’s online training session, we want to explore the question: What is residence ministry, and what does it mean to live out our Catholic faith in practice within our residence halls? There will be a brief introduction to the topic of pastoral care, and we aim to align this (as much as possible) with your experiences, programs, and concerns. At the last annual conference, the idea arose that the existing documents, which are now somewhat outdated, need to be updated—and that with this planned update, we want to draft and develop something that can be presented at key points within the Bishops’ Conference, the dioceses, and also (and perhaps in collaboration with) important associations such as the Federal Association of the Catholic Church at Universities, in order to highlight our immensely important work in and around the dormitories.

 

The Catholic residence hall landscape is diverse, yet this diversity is united under one common umbrella... I look forward to the exchange on the variety of pastoral offerings in the residence halls and hope, together with the entire board, to welcome as many of you as possible online!

 

Best regards,

Matthias Böhm (Chair)