On 9 June, coinciding with the inauguration of the Football World Cup taking place in Germany this year, an ecumenical celebration will be held in the Liebfrauendom, the cathedral of Munich. The service is just one of many initiatives organized by the Christian Churches in the various venues hosting the fixtures, with the aim of transforming the championship into a “festival of dialogue and hospitality”, as jointly declared by the German Bishops’ Conference and the German Evangelical Church. The celebration in Munich, which will be transmitted live by Germany’s second TV channel (ZDF), has been organized by the two Churches in collaboration with Germany’s ecumenical organization, the Community of Work of Christian Churches (ACK). It is due to begin at 11 am. It will be officiated jointly by the President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, by the President of the Council of the German Evangelical Church (EKD), Bishop Wolfgang Huber, by the Archbishop of the diocese of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, by the bishop of the Land Bavaria for the Lutheran Evangelical Church, Johannes Friedrich, and by the President of ACK, Walter Klaiber. A number of leading German personalities are also expected to attend the service, including Federal President Horst Köhler, Federal Minister for the Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, Bavarian President Edmund Stoiber, and the President of the German Football League, Theo Zwanziger. After the service in the cathedral, a reception will be held at which the programme of events promoted by the Churches during the World Cup will be presented.
