A woman full of life, cheerful, bright, warm-hearted. Katharina is a new face at the Johannes Paul II Center in Vienna. She is here to be touched and to grow, to draw closer to Jesus. It has been a long journey. This is that story.
About culture, celebrating life without worries & a lack of depth
Although Katharina grew up Catholic, for a long time she did not see faith as part of her life . Through her roots she was able to experience a culture in which a lot of hospitality and joy determined everyday life, which shaped her very much.
“I have always been able to experience this change between Austria and Hungary. I grew up in Hungary, so it’s also a big emotional anchor for me. There is a lot about community, there is a lot of celebration and the family is very important. Christianity is more traditional there. God exists, but the question of who Jesus is or what is going on in the church is not one that was particularly present. Come to think of it, for many years my husband and I, even when we were in church, had never really had deep conversations about faith. We have never really met authentic people in the faith. Often more like people who do ‚what should be done‘.“
Authentic people in the faith, however, had previously been particularly important to Katharina.
“I had a very good religion teacher in the fourth grade at high school. From back then I still knew the feeling of being really supported and embedded in the faith. I can still remember it extremely well – but then came puberty and the change of religion teachers … and with it the continuous decline. Then not only does the relationship with God become more difficult, but one begins to doubt the whole thing and to no longer see the positive things about the church – all the good things t