Rector Michael Hoch commented: “The circumstances have changed in a manner requiring us to comment publicly, as we view it as a questionable decision to move seminary education over to KHKT University of Catholic Theology in Cologne, as this is unnecessary and at odds with the terms of the existing concordat.” “Seminary education for clergy and teachers of the subject religion at public institutions is in our view a matter of great value for society, as well as from an academic and religion policy standpoint, which under no circumstances should be given up,” said Rector Hoch, adding that the University will be acting accordingly.
In an interview with the newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Lambert T. Koch, chairperson of the Rectors’ Conference in NRW (LRK NRW), furthermore observed the possibility of negative consequences for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as a location of academic excellence if the concordat were to be breached. “We find it astonishing that the Archdiocese of Cologne would unilaterally act in contravention of such an agreement, as appears to be the case, after having stated the very opposite on multiple occasions,” said Koch, noting that a solid education program in part means finding satisfactory answers to major ethical questions of contemporary importance. “How indeed could one expect such a small, strictly ecclesiastical institution with only five professors currently to deliver more than a fully staffed public university? None of us at the Rectors’ Conference in NRW have yet found any answer to that, which raises the question: What is this all about?”
Against a secondary location for seminary education
The Rectorate, University Council and Senate of the University of Bonn had previously issued a joint statement on the two faculties of theology. The statement reads: “We reject any direct or indirect attempts to undermine the concordat and are opposed to any efforts to gradually move seminary education over to such institutions as the Cologne University of Catholic Theology. There is no need to establish any additional locations for seminary education within the Archdiocese of Cologne.”
The governance bodies additionally reaffirmed that the University of Bonn views the offering of theology programs in preparation for various pastoral positions and for school teachers of the subject religion as an integral part of the institution’s identity and mission, and has explicitly upheld this as a desired commitment.
The concerns in this controversy stem from the Archdiocese of Cologne’s acquisition of the Philosophical-Theological University of Steyler Missionaries in Sankt Augustin, completed in 2020. Archbishop Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki is current High Chancellor of this institution, now named Cologne University of Catholic Theology (KHKT), which was moved from Sankt Augustin to Cologne in the wake of the acquisition.