Kathrin Ritzka

Kathrin Ritzka is a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in Fall 2025.

Kathrin Ritzka is a doctoral researcher and Research Associate in Catholic Theology at Humboldt University of Berlin and coordinator of the Center for Interreligious Theology and Religious Study at Humboldt University of Berlin. She holds a master’s degree in German literature from Humboldt University of Berlin, an MPhil in Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor’s degree with a double-major in Catholic Theology and German Literature.

Her research at AGI will examine how the Catholic Church in the United States and Germany has responded to migration policy debates between 2001 and 2025. Focusing on key turning points after 9/11, during the 2015 refugee crisis, and in the run-up to the 2024/25 elections, she investigates how Catholic leaders, institutions, and lay organizations have positioned themselves in relation to theological principles, political realities, and a shifting public discourse. On the basis of historical analysis and interviews with key actors her project compares national and transnational dynamics to understand how the Church balances universal theological commitments with local realities. In doing so, her research highlights the role of Catholic advocacy in shaping migration debates and sheds light on the broader intersection of religion and politics in democratic societies.

She is currently co-editing volumes on religion and modernity (Legitimität der Moderne: Reflexionen zwischen Dogmatik, Kirchenrecht und Geschichte, forthcoming 2026) and on language and theology as well as finishing her doctoral thesis on the notion of consolation in theology and contemporary literature.