The 29th “Day of the German Protestant Church”, which was characterized by many aspirations and appeals for Christian unity, ended with the desire for the deeper communion in the field of ecumenism that theology and liturgy still do not permit. In this regard, Helga Trösken, Protestant pastor, called it “scandalous” that “the deepest schism” should exist over “a meal” celebrated in common; just there where, in her view, “the deepest union” ought to exist. In spite of everything, a very significant experience for ecumenism was shared by the participants in Frankfurt: the Corpus Domini procession. Led by the Catholic bishop of Limburg, Franz Kamphaus, it aroused a good deal of curiosity, especially in view of the fact that Protestants have never appreciated the Catholic feast in honour of the Eucharist. The ecumenical courage of Kamphaus was admired at the Kirchentag: the fact that he symbolically shared an unconsecrated communion wafer with the president of Protestant Church, Peter Steinacker, seemed an encouraging sign for the reciprocal search for understanding. But the empty chalice brought onto the podium by Steinacker reminded those present that intercommunion has not yet been achieved. Sign of the lack of intercommunion was also the fact that the participants in the Kirchentag failed to formulate a Christian ethical option in common with Catholics concerning various bans in the field of bioethics and genetics; for example, addressing a joint appeal to politicians to ban experiments on human embryos. Crista Kramer Von Reisswitz
