After the end of the Pope's trip to Bavaria, the reactions to the second visit to Germany by the head of the church are – as was to be expected – highly varied. Tubingen theologian Hans Kung and church critic Eugen Drewermann said there were no signs of a rethink in the church.
Following the conclusion of the Pope's trip to Bavaria, reactions to the church leader's second visit to Germany are – as was to be expected – highly varied. Tubingen theologian Hans Kung and church critic Eugen Drewermann said there were no signs of a rethink in the church. Catholic bishops, on the other hand, expect the visit to provide new impetus for the church in Germany. According to a survey, 69 percent of Bavarians ame that the Pope's visit will have a lasting effect. 72 percent of Catholics and 74 percent of Protestants think the trip gives impetus to faith, according to an infratest survey. our site will be documenting both positive and critical comments and assessments of the Bavarian visit here in the coming days.
Stoiber takes positive stock of the Pope's visit Bavaria's Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber (CSU) has drawn a positive balance of the Pope's visit. The six-day stay of Benedict XVI. in his Bavarian homeland will have a lasting effect, Stoiber said on Thursday on Bavarian radio. "Benedict XVI. The Prime Minister said that the memorial service "combines love of one's homeland and loyalty to one's homeland with a universal message" that gets deep under people's skin. On the last day of his trip, the pope visited Freising, where he was ordained a priest in 1951, on Thursday.
Host Bishop Wetter: "A celebration of faith" Wetter spoke of moving days. He said the visit had reached not only the country but also the hearts of the people. According to his impression, the sympathy was greater than expected. The cardinal spoke of a "great celebration of faith" that showed: "The church is alive, and the church is young. Highlights were the church services with the sermons of the Pope. The decisive importance of the question of God had become clear. Wetter said that there would certainly be no mass conversions in the coming days. But the visit will have a deep and long-lasting effect on countless people and will encourage them to be credible witnesses of Christ.
Host Bishop Schraml: "Great gift" Schraml, whose diocese includes Altotting and the Pope's birthplace of Marktl, spoke of a "great gift" from the Pope. He had simply given his heart to the grateful people. "It is beautiful to be allowed to be in this church, to work with this church for the people," he said. Schraml also referred to an "astonishing physical sprightliness" of the 79-year-old pope and recalled that Benedict XVI had been a "great success". The bishop gave his episcopal ring to the Blessed Mother in Altotting. Muller stressed that the pastoral visit had rushed from high point to high point and had demonstrated the beauty of the Christian faith. He considered the Pope's speech at the University of Regensburg a great moment in the German academic tradition. He rejected "petty criticism on the margins" against this speech. These foreign critics had probably never seen a German university from the inside and did not know about the academic tradition. Muller also mentioned the ecumenical vespers, which showed that the confessions were in agreement on essential ies and could praise God together.
Cardinal Lehmann rejects criticism of the Pope on the subject of ecumenism Cardinal Karl Lehmann has praised the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Bavaria. as a "great contribution to the culture of religion in our country" evaluated. The Pope combined the dignity of his office with a simple, modest appearance and was very well received, the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference told journalists at Munich Airport on Thursday.Lehmann, opposes accusation of lack of ecumenical signals during pope's visit to Bavaria. Lehmann pointed out that the journey of Benedict XVI. in his home had a personal character. From the beginning it was not planned to develop "new programs".At the same time, the cardinal emphasized that one could also read "between the lines". The pope's way of emphasizing the commonalities between Catholic and Protestant Christians was "leading the way".
Hofmann: Groundbreaking statements The Bishop of Wurzburg, Friedhelm Hofmann, also praised the simple and heartfelt language of the head of the Church.Benedict XVI. Benedict XVI spoke without moralizing and yet in his homilies he made statements that pointed the way for Christians. He referred in particular to the statements on the connection between faith and reason and on the importance of the common creed for ecumenism. Benedict XVI. emphasized that the question of faith is a central question of survival for society.The bishop, however, does not expect the pope's visit to lead to a sharp rise in church attendance figures. Even before that, there had been a slight trend toward more adult baptisms and re-entries. "But you can not exclude that one or the other through this experience of the Pope's visit rethinks his relationship to the Church.
"Bishop Gebhard Furst: Good news The Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Gebhard Furst, told the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" (Thursday edition) that the Pope had succeeded in presenting the Christian message as a joyful one. "The pope does not come across as one who first demands discipline and describes dangers to the faith in threatening terms."He emphasized that it was primarily a personal visit to the Bavarian homeland.
Bishop Muller: "What unites us" Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller said the goal of Tuesday evening's ecumenical vespers was not "any sensational messages". Rather, it was a matter of saying "what unites us". In spite of all differences, the Christians also formed a "unified force" in relation to society. Drewermann sees no turning point Church critic Eugen Drewermann sees no change in Pope Benedict XVI's thinking. On ies such as homosexuality, remarried divorcees, ecumenism or birth control, nothing has changed, he said on Sudwestrundfunk (SWR) in Baden-Baden. In response to the question of whether the modest style of Benedict XVI. Drewermann said that the Pope seems to stand against a claim of infallibility: "He can pretend to be as soft as he wants, only when he speaks something really new in substance, one may believe him.
"We are Church" disappointed by pope's visit Disappointed by the Pope's visit to Bavaria, the church movement "Wir sind Kirche" (We are Church) has expressed its opinion. While the pope personally presented himself as mild and positive during the six days, he did not give any signs of hope for foreseeable reforms in the Catholic Church, the group said in Munich on Thursday. The image of a loving God drawn by the head of the church is "not yet reflected in the current structures" of the church.As "unreservedly positive" "We are Church" emphasized the statement of the Pope that Christianity is not to be described by prohibitions, but as a "positive option. It is all the more regrettable, however, that on the subjects of ecumenism, the position of women, compulsory celibacy and the importance of the laity, for example, every concrete statement was avoided. Also in the conflict between the bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Ludwig Muller, and the laity in the diocese there, the pope had not shown himself to be a "supreme bridge builder".
Abbot Primate Wolf: Pope visibly enjoyed his trip Pope Benedict XVI. According to the assessment of the Abbot Primate of the Benedictines, Notker Wolf, has visibly enjoyed the visit to Bavaria. It has been nice to see these days that the former strict guardian of the faith has become so relaxed and detached, Wolf told Bavarian radio Thursday morning. He also defended the pope against critics who had hoped for more from him on ecumenism ies, for example. Benedict XVI. can only set symbolic signs during such a trip; the things that are still pending cannot be solved with a stroke of the pen.
Kung misses reforming signals from the Pope The theologian Hans Kung from Tubingen has drawn a critical balance of the Pope's visit to Bavaria. He has heard from Benedict XVI. lacks any reformist signals, Kung told Bayerischer Rundfunk radio on Thursday. The pope talked about existing problems such as the shortage of priests. Only with calls for more priests will not improve the situation in pastoral care. A filled Marienplatz in Munich does not guarantee better filled churches in the city, according to the theologian. Even thousands of altar boys did not guarantee future priests who wanted to do without women.In matters of ecumenism, Kung disliked the appearance of the Protestant bishop of Bavaria, Johannes Friedrich. The latter had totally concealed all controversial ies such as the common communion or the infallibility of the pope. "He was blessed to be allowed to give a harmless sermon in the presence of the Pope," Kung complained. Overall, however, the Pope was given a dignified reception and a joyful atmosphere. "One can only be happy about that.
Huber indirectly criticizes the pope The chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Bishop Wolfgang Huber, has been critical of the ecumenical aspects of the Pope's trip to Bavaria. He warned Wednesday in Budapest against minimizing the importance of Protestant churches. "It is helpful to note that the churches of the Reformation, as churches from the beginning, are part of the common church tradition," the Berlin bishop said on the sidelines of the 6. Plenary Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE).Background is the speech of Pope Benedict XVI. at the vespers and ecumenical meeting on Tuesday in Regensburg Cathedral. At the same time, Benedict XVI. first greeted representatives of the Orthodox Church and then "the friends from the various traditions of the Reformation," thus avoiding the term "Protestant churches".Huber expressed understanding that the pope wanted to visit his Bavarian homeland and thus go back to his biographical roots. "This gave the trip a clear character from the beginning and kept me from having too great expectations on ecumenical ies." If the Pope comes to Germany again, he, Huber, hoped that the ecumenical reality would then be reflected in an appropriate way.
ev. State Bishop Dr. John Friedrich : "Pope preaches evangelical" Friedrich, is extremely taken with the Pope's visit to his homeland. "The pope preaches properly evangelical," Friedrich said on Tuesday evening in the "Munchner Runde" on Bavarian television. In the address of Benedict XVI. During the service at the Munich fairgrounds, there was not a single sentence that he could not have signed, the regional bishop confessed.Friedrich also noted positively the strong orientation of the Pope's speeches to the Gospel. This was especially noticeable to him in Altotting. The sermon there could certainly help Protestant Christians to "rediscover the biblical Mary more strongly.". Here there are deficits in his church, the bishop noted self-critically. Church services such as the ecumenical vespers in Regensburg Cathedral should be celebrated more often, Friedrich stressed. It is important, he said, "that we make spiritual progress with each other".Theologically, the Protestant bishop has much more in common with the pope than separates him: Johannes Friedrich was enthusiastic about the pope's sermon. "In our hearts, we can already do quite a lot together, praising, praising and praying to God together". The regional bishop hopes that the Pope's visit will bring Protestant and Catholic Christians closer together in their hearts. Such a trip is not suitable for a theological dialogue, he said.
Cardinal Walter Kasper satisfied Cardinal Walter Kasper of the Curia has welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's address. praised at the ecumenical vespers in the Regensburg Cathedral. The decisive thing was that the Pope named deficits on both sides, said the Vatican "ecumenical minister" on Tuesday evening on Bavarian television. "The real distress in ecumenism is that the common substance is melting away from us," Kasper explained. "What people understand by God is often extremely vague.
"Lale Akgun: Benedict's statements on dialogue with Muslims "quite great" "I am very glad that the Pope has emphasized how important the integration of Muslims in Germany is. I think that the pope, especially as a German, has a special sensitivity for the topic of integration. A German pope is therefore also a stroke of luck for Muslims in our country. Muslims in Germany can now also say: We are Pope! ", says the Islam representative of the SPD parliamentary group, Dr. Lale Akgun. Pope Benedict XVI. Has called for greater efforts to integrate Muslims in Germany and for dialogue with the Islamic world. This is also of great importance with regard to the Islam conference of the Minister of the Interior, Akgun continued. "From the Pope's statement goes out to all people in Germany-no matter what faith they have- the signal: We belong together, we are one society. I would also like to see such a signal from the Islam Conference on 27 September. September," says Dr. Lale Akgun. Nevertheless, the attitude of the Catholic Church to homosexuals, abortion and contraception is to be seen critically. "I would wish that the Pope would devote himself to gays and lesbians and the question of "gay marriage" with just as much tolerance and just as much understanding for the diversity of human life forms," says Dr. Lale Akgun. (KNA,epd,dr,rv,ddp)