Project „Feiertagsgruss“ | Religious Holidays' Greetings

Annual Calendar of religious holidays

Initiators
Representatives of the initiative „Dialog:Abraham” (formerly “Café Abraham”), the Jewish Austrian Students, the Catholic and Protestant Youths Austria, the Muslim Youths Austria, the Alevite Faith Community Austria (ALEVI), the Metropolis of Austria and “Kirche im Dialog” (Church in Dialogue, a department of the Pastoral Office of the Archdiocese of Vienna).

Occasion
The project was founded with the intention to promote interreligious dialogues by way of a calendar. The calendar is meant to inform about the different religious holidays and to foster mutual awareness of religious festivities by providing electronic greeting cards for the occasions.

Target Groups
People working in diverse religious settings (p. e. schools, universities, hospitals…), pedagogues who are interested in using the “Feiertagsgruss” as a method of interreligious education, youth leisure facilities, faith-based institutions.

Objectives
The project aims at a clear presentation of the most important feast days of participating religions through a calendar. The goal is to provide information about why these holidays are significant for the people celebrating them. The calendar and the resulting exchange on the different traditions and festivals are intended to break down interpersonal barriers and bring people together.

Topics
Religious holidays and commemoration days provide a break in people´s everyday lives. Family and friends celebrate, fast, commemorate a particular event, and have time off from work and school. The calendar presents a selection of the most important Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious holidays with short explanations in easy language.

Duration
The calendar has been set up in 2020 and is available online as well as in print, free of charge.

Activities
Members of the project group meet on an ad hoc basis for topics of interreligious cooperation, also within the framework of other projects.

The calendar is intended to remind of the upcoming holidays. All dates can be sent via Whatsapp messages, e-mails or via social media to those interested. In addition, the material supplementing the calendar is enhanced and updated on a regular basis so that it can be used in religious education.

Form of Organization
Project

Funding
The project „Feiertagsgruss“ is funded by “Kirche im Dialog”. In 2020, it was supported by the Kardinal König Foundation.

Products
The calendar is available digitally as well as a printed poster (A1) for schools, common rooms and homes. The offer is free of charge. An online-lexicon has been set up explaining important terms in the calendar. Greeting cards for the different holidays as well as infographics for the different calendars of the Abrahamic religions can be downloaded or obtained in printed form, free of charge.

Website | Social Media | Contact
https://www.feiertagsgruss.at/
Facebook: facebook.com/feiertagsgruss
Instagram: instagram.com/feiertagsgruss

Erzdiözese Wien
Kirche im Dialog
Stephansplatz 4/7/1
A-1010 Wien

E-mail: feiertagsgruss@edw.or.at

editor: lz / update: ts / jb 2022