On March 31st at 12:25 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – Sandra Szabo will present the following articles in the ORF religious magazine “Orientation” on Sunday, March 31, 2024, at 12:25 p.m. on ORF 2:
Excitement Easter cloth: Helnwein art in St. Stephen’s Cathedral canceled
The Vienna-born artist Gottfried Helnwein is known for his hyperrealistic images of wounded children. This year he designed a Lenten cloth for St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, which was to be followed by an Easter cloth on Holy Saturday. The cathedral chapter has now canceled this new art installation at short notice after a conservative internet portal mobilized against it. Helnwein wanted to show the risen Jesus as a child with stigmata. The cathedral chapter fears that this depiction could hurt people’s feelings. What is art allowed to do in sacred spaces? And should it be banned if it could disturb someone? Lena Göbl spoke to the artist, supporters and critics.
Belief in the Messiah: What do we know about Jesus today?
For believing Christians, the matter seems clear: Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of humanity and rose again on the third day. But what do we really know about the historical Jesus? Did he see himself as a Messiah? Was the grave really empty? And what did Jesus want to achieve? Modern biblical scholarship has much more precise answers to these questions today than it did a few decades ago. Studio guest Markus Tiwald, Professor of New Testament at the University of Vienna, provides information about the latest findings in exegesis that could make conversations with Judaism easier.
Empty churches? Easter without resurrection
Even at Easter, Christianity’s most important festival, the pews remain increasingly empty and fewer and fewer people attend church services. The supermarkets, on the other hand, are well stocked with all kinds of Easter goods, from chocolate bunnies to painted eggs. Easter is about nothing less than the center of the Christian faith. But apparently many people also celebrate Easter who don’t feel like they belong to a church. Sandra Szabo reports on the meaning of Easter in a secular world.
Modern mass: Johanna Doderer composes for the court music band
For the first time in its 500-year history, the Vienna Court Music Orchestra has commissioned a woman to compose a mass. Johanna Doderer, great-niece of the writer Heimito von Doderer, is one of Austria’s leading modern composers. She primarily devotes herself to composing chamber music, operas and orchestral works. Now she is composing a mass for the first time. In “Orientation” she talks about her approach to sacred music and her spirituality. Karoline Thaler with a portrait.