The “Churches wish to thank this man who always took the side of the Christian faith, with clarity and precision”, writes the President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, in a letter to the wife of Johannes Rau, the former German President who died on 27 January at the age of 75, after a serious illness. Active in politics for half a century, Johannes Rau dedicated himself to his work “with a sense of deep responsibility and with clearly recognisable joy”, writes Lehmann. His activity was always permeated by concern for the well-being of everyone. “I myself continues the cardinal knew him as an evangelical Christian, with a deep ecumenical spirit, who had closely at heart the dialogue not only between the confessions, but also with other religions and cultures: he always wished to have at his side representatives of politics and society, as well as representatives of the Churches, to examine together difficult tasks and problems, in order to find a solution”. Rau enjoyed great esteem among the German population. The official obituary in the journal of the German parliament “Das Parlament” recalled that Johannes Rau began his political career at the age of 27: he was the youngest MP in the Landtag (regional parliament) of Duesseldorf. He then became mayor of Wuppertal, and then, for twenty years, prime minister of Westphalia-Northern Rhineland. From 1999 to 2004 he served as the second Social Democratic President of the Federal Republic of Germany. The president of the Bundestag in Berlin declared that Rau well deserved the epithet of “fisher of men and builder of bridges”.
