The 26th Annual Convention of KAAD brought together 216 scholarship holders and around 71 guests from 50 countries. At the event, our former president, Prof. Dr. Josef Reiter, was decorated with the Bonifatius insignia of the German Bishops’ Conference.

In the run-up to the Earth Summit (“Rio + 20”) in June 2012 and given the necessary transformations, the convention put the topic Conduct of Life in a Global Community at center stage with a special focus on The Timeliness of Virtues. The search for a sustainable energy and a global resource management and for the integrity of creation shall give all people a common future and a dignified life. It evokes henceforth some basic questions of moderation and justice for the global community and puts on trial especially the dynamics of emerging nations and their rising middle classes, as well as the lifestyle of people in those countries, which bear greater responsibilities due to their bigger capacities.

In his opening address, the new KAAD president, Prof. Dr. Albert Franz (TU Dresden), referred to the cardinal virtues of temperance, fortitude, justice and prudence. There lies some potential and strength within them, which turns them as much into potential change agents as our scholarship holders. The virtues also served as leitmotifs for the forums of the convention. (See the complete programme in German.)

However, during the discussions, the tenor for an ethical life plan was always discussed parallel to humans’ quest for happiness. So “Must” was always linked to “Will” (as Prof. Dr. Markus Vogt, LMU München, pointed out during the central panel discussion). The borderline situation of the concept of growth in the light of climate change calls for a new global “social contract” which includes the question of a “global narrative of happiness”, says Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner (Director of DIE, German Development Institute). This includes far more than what the usual indicators of wealth capture. The constantly requested contextualization of the issue of growth and wealth against the background of different cultural traditions and leitmotifs underlines the need for new indicators. As far as global distributive justice is concerned, “egalitarianism” is needed. However, it requires an in-depth analysis within the framework of intercultural dialogue, of which world religions and their “cosmologies” (concepts of creation) as sources and cause of an ethical conduct of life play a central role. At international conferences this aspect is often underestimated. In the future more attention should be paid to the possible contributions of world religions when it comes to the issue of how to set a worth-living world for all.

Prof. Reiter and Stephanus Mulyadi were honoured

Within the ceremonial framework of an international soirée which was musically arranged by scholarship holders, Bishop Dr. Heinrich Mussinghoff (Aachen) presented the Bonifatius insignia of the German Bishops’ Conference to Prof. Dr. Josef Reiter. Bishop Mussinghoff is chairman of the Commission for Science and Culture of the German Bishops’ Conference. Reiter was particularly honoured for his merits as KAAD president (2003-2011) and as an advisor to the Bishops’ Conference for many years.

For the first time, the prize of the “KAAD Foundation Peter Hünermann” was awarded during the soirée. It was granted to the Indonesian Alumnus Stephanus Mulyadi for his outstanding engagement for the church and rural population of his motherland. There is a detailed report about his projects as well as the change in the presidential office in chapter 1 of the new Jahresbericht 2011.

The Annual Convention lived on the active participation of the scholarship holders.  There were presentations of projects and Alumni within the regional group meetings. The concert and the liturgical parts were prepared by the musical scholarship holders, and the performances at the folklore evening stirred all participants into action. In a spiritual encounter, prayers were said and texts from the different world religions were read. The main mass was presided over by Bishop Dr. Paul Wehrle (auxiliary bishop in Freiburg), who is also the KAAD contact person at the German Bishops’ Conference. In his homily, he placed the emphasis on the aspect of leadership in the spirit of Jesus Christ as well as on being led into his discipleship. Among the celebrating priests was also Prof. Franz, the new KAAD President. In the spirit of Easter and the community of the faithful, the mass was the liturgical highlight of the Annual Convention.