Germany: Towards a second ecumenical Kirchentag in 2010
German Catholics and Protestants announced on April 27 their plans to organize a second ecumenical Kirchentag in Munich in 2010, seven years after the first meeting which brought together 200,000 people in Berlin.
In 2003 in Berlin, this large official gathering of Catholics and Protestants was described as “a great step forward on the Christian ecumenical path” by its Catholic co-president. On the other hand, it was described as “superficial” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now known as Benedict XVI.
“The Christians of Germany have been waiting for a sign showing them that the ecumenical movement will continue, with another ecumenical Kirchentags,” said Theodor Bolzenius, spokesman for the Central Committee of German Catholics.
When the Kirchentag project was launched in Berlin, the organizers expressed the wish that it would lead to intercommunion. Just before the Berlin meeting, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the teaching of traditional Catholic doctrine, which forbids this practice. Appeals were launched during the course of the meeting, greeted by applause and ovations, demanding a relaxing of the rules imposed on Catholics.
Speaking of the plans for Munich 2010, the spokesman for the Central Committee of German Catholics replied to the ecumenical agency ENI: “we have not yet talked about a sharing of the Eucharist, and I would not comment on a subject which we have not broached.”
Hermann Kues, a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the German parliament, spokesman for the Christian-Democrats on religious affairs, said that “the decision to organize another ecumenical Kirchentag is an encouraging sign for the Churches in Germany.”
