Greater state recognition and support for the Church’s counselling centres that devote themselves to the protection of unborn life and women have been urged by the bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke. In his first intervention as bishop, during the new year’s festivity held in Eichstätt on 20 January, Bishop Hanke asked Christians who fill positions of responsibility in public life to strive to bring about a change of tendency in the policy of Bavaria, the Land in which the Church’s counselling services receive from the State a subsidy that covers only 10 per cent of their costs, in contrast to what happens in other Länder. “The protection of life has a right to be supported by the State”, urged the bishop. Hanke also appealed to the Christians of the diocese to devote themselves to the cause of ecumenism. “This is all the more important in a diocese with a situation of diaspora like that of Eichstätt, where many faithful have to suffer the painful aspect of the division of the Churches within their own families”. “Prayer – said the bishop – must be a mainstay of ecumenism”. “With common prayer it is already possible to progress beyond the real confines that exist. What’s fundamental for ecumenical dialogue is that everyone should contribute by bringing his own identity to the task. Without knowing what each person’s position is, it is impossible for genuine dialogue to take place”. On the contrary, “the lack of clarity in articulating one’s own identity, or passing over in silence the positions that might be disagreeable to the interlocutor, in the long run prevent dialogue from being fruitful”, he added. The bishop deplored the “painful limitations” of ecumenical efforts, such as the impossibility of concelebrating the Eucharist. Nonetheless, he observed, “ecumenical work requires a capacity to support tensions and difficulties”.
