On 26 February, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier – in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation – hosted a panel discussion at Schloss Bellevue as part of the series Forum Bellevue on the Future of Democracy. The sixth forum examined the relationship between church and state, the influence of religion on politics, what faith means to political actors, and the role of religion in the functioning of a democratic society.

Today, in societies like Germany’s that are shaped by immigration and that feature a plurality of religions, identifying the relationship between religion, freedom and democracy has gained new urgency. How can the decreasing significance of religion for large parts of the population be reconciled with the growing importance of religion around the world, in a social and political sense? How can we prevent the members of various faiths from becoming radicalised, closing themselves off from society, and even trying to promote a version of their faith that runs counter to our fundamental values? What are the limits to faith communities’ right to exercise religion and organise their own affairs? How will we deal with outside influences?

In Western democracies, there is increasing discussion again about the role of religious symbols in the public sphere. Can faith and religion, whether it be Jewish, Christian or Muslim, help strengthen cohesion in a liberal society? How much faith, and how many religions, does democracy need and can it cope with? How do religious communities interact with one another, how do they interact with nonbelievers – and what is the state’s role in this regard?

These are some of the issues that the Federal President discussed with Evelyn Finger (Head, Faith and Doubt desk, Die Zeit newspaper), Hans Joas (Professor of the Sociology of Religion, Humboldt University, Berlin, and Professor of Sociology and Social Thought, University of Chicago) and Mouhanad Khorchide (Head, Centre for Islamic Theology and Professor of Islamic Religious Education, Münster University).