The President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, met the chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Rom, Romani Rose, at Heidelberg on 9 December. The meeting, which took place at Rose’s invitation, included a shared visit to the centre for Sinti and Rom documentation and culture in the city. The centre houses a permanent exhibition with the title “The Nazi genocide of the Sinti and Rom”. At the end of their visit, Lehmann and Rose met together to discuss the centre’s activities and the Catholic pastoral mission to the Sinti and Rom (travelling people). Following the meeting, the Bishops’ Conference issued a communiqué reporting that “both sides emphasized the need to combat all forms of racial discrimination that continues to exist in German society”, with particular emphasis on the importance of the task of education. Rose expressed the hope that the Catholic Church would continue its commitment to the pastoral service of Sinti and Rom. Cardinal Lehmann, for his part, underlined the contribution of Sinti and Rom to German culture, and described the main aspects of the Catholic mission to this minority, in which an important role is played by pilgrimages. Some 70,000 Sinti and Rom have German citizenship. And some 90% of them belong to the Catholic Church. The Central Council, founded in 1982, represents nine national associations, the centre for Sinti and Rom documentation and culture, and other associations at the regional level. Various representatives of the Central Council of German Sinti and Rom also took part in the talks: apart from Rose, Jacques Delfeld, president of the association for the Land Rheinland-Pfalz, Anita Awosusi, member of the executive of the Central Council, and Manfred Lauteschläger, member of the executive of the centre for Sinti and Rom documentation and culture. The German Bishops’ Conference was represented, apart from Lehmann, by Fr. Hans Langendörfer, general secretary, and Fr. Wolfgang Miehle, national director for the pastoral care of foreigners. The Catholic ministry to Sinti and Rom is coordinated by Fr. Josef Lancaric; three priests, four deacons, a pastoral delegate and various volunteers also work in the mission. The main activities include annual pilgrimages, mainly of Marian type: in particular the pilgrimage to Cologne Cathedral for the feast of the Assumption.
