Friedhelm Mennekes is a Jesuit who studied philosophy, political science and theology in Bonn, Munich, and Frankfurt am Main. In 1971 he studied for his doctorate under K.D. Bracher in Bonn. In 1979 he gained his postdoctoral qualification in practical theology and the sociology of religion in Frankfurt am Main. He was then appointed Professor in Frankfurt and Pastor in Cologne. Since 1979 he has been curating modern art exhibitions in churches. In 1985 he founded a center for contemporary art and music, the Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Köln. Here Friedhelm Mennekes engages directly with artists such as Beuys, Bacon, Boltanski, Chillida, Dumas, Hrdlicka, Kruger, Rainer, Sherman, and Trockel, among others. Today his work still aims to create radical encounters between modern art, music, and religion. For Mennekes, the idea of Christian art as such does not exist (see www.artandreligion.de).