On 27 April, the new Central European Province (ECE) will become a reality, but common projects of this Province are already underway. For example, there is the creation of a journal of higher learning in philosophy and theology. Here is how this initiative is introduced by the two Jesuits in charge: for theology Fr. Alexander Löffler, for philosophy Fr. Bruno Niederbacher.

At the beginning of March the first issue of the Zeitschrift für Theologie und Philosophie (ZTP, Journal of Theology and Philosophy) was published in printed form. Its digital edition has already been online since February on the website ztp.jesuiten.org. As an online journal with accompanying print edition, the new periodical is designed to carry two long-standing journals - Theologie und Philosophieand Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie - into a digital future. It is a joint venture undertaken by three institutions: Munich School of Philosophy, Faculty for Catholic Theology at the University of Innsbruck, and Sankt Georgen, Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt. Four times a year, ZTP will offer outstanding scholarly essays and reviews of current specialist publications on more than 150 pages. Even more than its two predecessors, the journal focuses on the fields of systematic theology and systematic philosophy.

Several reasons have suggested this reorganisation. The world of academic journals has changed considerably. The trend is from print media to digital media. In recent years, it has also become increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient high-quality contributions for two journals in the German-speaking world. This challenge is easier to meet if one concentrates on one journal in which contributions are also published in German and English. The high standards of the double-blind peer review process should ensure that only excellent papers find their way to the readers.

The idea of merging the two journals is not entirely new. As early as the beginning of the 1920s there were initial considerations by German and Austrian Jesuit professors for a jointly published theological journal. They did not cease in the following decades. After 100 years, these old considerations have now been implemented.

For Father Bernhard Bürgler SJ, the future Provincial of the Central European Jesuit Province, the ZTP is an example of the greater cooperation envisaged by the new Province structures. “I am delighted that the universities in Frankfurt and Munich, as well as the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Innsbruck, have decided to embark on this joint academic beacon project,” says Fr Bürgler as he leafs through the first issue.

We hope that the result will convince not only the Provincial, but also the theological and philosophical experts in and outside the Society of Jesus.