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Bishops in meeting: Over 42 million euros for universities and youth!
The Freising Bishops' Conference is discussing universities and budget plans for 2026 in Munich - important decisions are pending.
Bishops in meeting: Over 42 million euros for universities and youth!
The Catholic bishops meet in Munich for the big autumn general assembly. Since Wednesday (November 4, 2025), important topics such as Catholic universities and youth work have been on the agenda. The chairman of the assembly, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, will lead the discussions. These consultations will take place until Thursday in the Catholic Academy in the Cardinal Wendel House Antenna Bavaria reported.
A central issue is the budget for 2026 of the Bavarian Supradiocesan Fund, which supports over 60 institutions. For 2023, this budget was almost 42 million euros, with around 27.7 million euros, or around 66 percent, going to colleges and universities. Pastoral care facilities as well as further education and adult education also received funding, which illustrates the range of support. The money comes exclusively from the church taxes of the Bavarian dioceses, which also ensure the financing of this fund.
Financial support for education
What exactly happens with the hat money? The majority of the budget goes to churches and educational institutions. In order to have the most important numbers at a glance, here is a brief overview:
- Hochschulen und Universitäten: 27,7 Millionen Euro (66%)
- Schule, Fort- und Erwachsenenbildung: 4,8 Millionen Euro (11,5%)
- Verbände und Einrichtungen der Seelsorge: 2,6 Millionen Euro (6,2%)
- Soziale Verbände und Einrichtungen: 1,5 Millionen Euro (3,6%)
- Kommunikation und Medien: 1,3 Millionen Euro (3,1%)
With the conference in Munich, the general meeting of the Federal Association of Catholic Universities is getting closer and closer. This will take place on the 14th/15th. November 2025 in Stuttgart. An exciting topic here will be “group-related misanthropy and what we can do about it”. The preparation team has already been able to recruit numerous discussion partners for this discussion, according to information from Church at universities.
Public presence and digitalization
Another interesting topic on the agenda concerns the federal association's social media presence. The main committee discussed approving a project to strengthen its online presence in order to reach more young people. Growing interest is also evident in the number of subscribers to the Instagram channel “kircheanhochschulen”, which recently exceeded the 1,000 subscriber mark.
The developments surrounding Catholic educational institutions show that the structures must continue to develop and adapt to modern requirements. Ultimately, the next steps are crucial in order to secure and expand support for universities in the future.