Future 500 | Public Event: Has Dialogue Failed? – Towards a New Concept of Interreligious Engagement

5 July 2026 | 6:30 pm (Doors open: 6:00 pm)
WeiberWirtschaft | Anklamer Str. 38 | 10115 Berlin-Mitte

With Cyril Hovorun | Sankt Ignatius College, Stockholm
Introduction and moderation: Jo Frank  | Director, DialoguePerspectives e.V.

Interreligious and worldview dialogue is one of the most established instruments of peacebuilding and social cohesion in Europe. Yet the evidence of its impact is surprisingly thin. Encounter happens. Representation is secured. But sustained cooperation, shared civic agency, and lasting change in conflict dynamics remain rare.

Recent crises raise difficult questions about the resilience of dialogue initiatives across Europe. The Russian Orthodox Church’s theological legitimisation of the war against Ukraine is a prominent example. When the Russian Orthodox Church gave its blessing to Russia’s invasion, it failed not only to prevent a war, but also to fulfil its duty. It supplied that war with a theology, using the language of spiritual encounter to sanctify conquest and turning the machinery of reconciliation into an instrument of legitimisation. 

The uncomfortable question this raises is therefore whether the concept of dialogue itself has become part of the problem. In his keynote, Cyril Hovorun, a Ukrainian Orthodox theologian and one of the most precise voices on the relationship between religion and political power, will address this question. Having served in senior roles within the Orthodox Church, he offers both a deep knowledge of Orthodox theology and first-hand experience of how faith is enlisted in the service of empire. The keynote will be followed by a conversation with Jo Frank and Cyril Hovorun that will further explore the limits of interreligious dialogue in general and discuss possible implications for the future of the interreligious field.

The event will be conducted in English.

Please register here.

The Future 500 programme brings together Europe’s most promising talents from politics, business, academia, the arts and civil society. Future 500 develops concrete socio-political initiatives through international interreligious-worldview and intercultural dialogue, implementing these within European civil society. Through its work, Future 500 sustainably strengthens social cohesion across Europe. Future 500 is a programme of DialoguePerspectives e.V.

DialoguePerspectives e.V. is a Berlin-based European platform dedicated to strengthening a plural European society. DialoguePerspectives develops impact-oriented civil society programmes for a resilient European society. The focus areas of DialoguePerspectives’ work are interreligious and worldview dialogue, combatting antisemitism in Europe, developing and establishing a pluralistic European culture of remembrance, and communicating Jewish life in Germany through nationwide educational programmes.