Burning to Ignite for Jesus: Online Symposium with Dr. Johannes Hartl

A report on the event March 17, 2021

From January 28 to 29, the symposium "Burning to Ignite for Jesus" took place at the philosophical-theological College of Heiligenkreuz. This was consciously designed to be less theoretical and more pastorally-practical, aiming to provide impulses on how New Evangelization can succeed in our time. The speaker at the symposium was Dr. Johannes Hartl, the founder and leader of the House of Prayer in Augsburg, where not only is prayer ongoing around the clock, but Christian events with five-digit attendance numbers are also regularly organized.

First, Dr. Hartl presented us with a causal analysis by the Canadian philosopher of religion Charles Taylor regarding the remarkable fact that 500 years ago, the sentence "I do not believe in God" was virtually unthinkable, whereas today the opposite, "I believe in God," sounds almost comical coming from an intellectual. The central cause for this development, which has accelerated massively in recent decades, is the failure of the Church to adapt to the "optionalization of faith." For too long, the model of the "People's Church" (Volkskirche), which had been so successful for centuries, was clung to—a model in which almost everyone was given a Christian socialization from the cradle, which was then traversed almost "automatically"—undoubtedly a phenomenon of the past. The Church also finds it difficult to create a "culture of authenticity," i.e., to distinguish itself and its members through a clear profile.

To bridge this deficit, Hartl argues, it is necessary to create a new evangelistic culture—that is, one corresponding to the Gospel. Values are fundamental to any culture: a change in values is necessarily linked to a cultural shift. In his lecture, Dr. Hartl cited ten such values, of which only three are mentioned here:

"Humility in Pluralism":

This describes the attitude of approaching a "stranger" with warmth on the one hand and modesty on the other. Here, I do not assume that the other person, who comes to the Sunday service, for example, can already understand everything I say, let alone is a believer.

"Emotional Testimonies":

Pope Paul VI wrote in his encyclical "Evangelii Nuntiandi": "What people of our day are looking for are not primarily teachers, but witnesses. And if they are teachers, it is because they are witnesses." We must rediscover the beauty of personal testimony and allow it to be of greater significance again.

"Aesthetics":

Often, the reasons that move a person toward a decision are emotional. People go where they like best. This also applies to the option of faith. While the Church could win people over 300 years ago with the aesthetics of the Baroque, today we cannot rely on celebrating the liturgy in unheated, centuries-old, almost museum-like churches, but must strive to appeal to the aesthetic nerve of the 21st century.

Language, also an elementary component of any culture, is a particular concern for Johannes Hartl. He notes that there is a fundamental communication problem in the Church, as it often fails to formulate faith in a way that is truly understood, let alone accepted, by the listeners. The blame for this lies largely with the Church, which too rarely bothers to distance itself from its professional jargon. This includes technical terms such as "sin," "redemption," "God," or "Holy Spirit," which are either not understood at all or only in a shortened or even non-Christian sense. Not a few people, for example, think only of cream cake (sins against health) or "environmental sins," such as disposing of a plastic bag in the organic waste bin, when they hear "sin." It becomes even more concerning with "redemption" (Erlösung), which is now associated with assisted suicide: yet redemption does not mean the erasure of a human life, but the liberating awakening of the soul into a friendship with God.

Johannes Hartl gives three tips on how the Church can relearn communication. Only one is mentioned briefly: there needs to be a new awareness that the institution of the Church has lost much of its recognition as a moral authority in recent years. Understanding can only succeed if there is a basis of trust. However, this must first be rebuilt. Concretely, this means: just because someone is a bishop or similar, it does not mean by any means that many people are interested in what he wants to say. This requires an advance of trust, and the Church must first earn this back.

New event formats! This does not mean: "no more Holy Mass from now on" or "beer tent instead of parish church." What it does mean, however, is that community life cannot be limited to the liturgy and the administration of sacraments. What was the Agora (the marketplace) in the time of Paul, where ideas were exchanged and preaching took place, is today to a large extent the internet or social media. If the Church continues to want to inspire people for their faith, it must become significantly more active here, and with its own profile. The positive potential of the internet for New Evangelization became clear through this very symposium, which had to take place online due to corona. While this meant a loss for the students, it represented a great gain for many interested parties, as the lectures were viewed over 70,000 times just a few weeks later.

Johannes Hartl ended the symposium with an appeal not to underestimate spiritual reality, as a spiritual battle is fought for every soul: "Prayer is not everything, but without prayer, everything is nothing." If we want to ignite other people for Jesus, prayer for them is irreplaceable. Ora et labora!

The lectures by Dr. Johannes Hartl can be viewed at any time on the YouTube channel "Stift Heiligenkreuz":

Part 1 – A New Culture:

Part 2 – A New Language:

Part 3 – New Event Formats:

(Author: Willy Mauser, candidate for Heiligenkreuz Abbey, theology student at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Benedikt XVI. Heiligenkreuz)