Justice in the presence of God

“Justice in the eyes of God”: that’s the slogan of the 95th Katholikentag, the congress of German Catholics due to be held in Saarbrücken from 24 to 28 May this year. Ever since it was first held in Mainz in October 1848, the event has progressively evolved: if the meeting in Mainz was a simple assembly of delegates, the Katholikentag in more recent decades has become an enormous jamboree organized by the laity in the form of a congress or exhibition. Numerous ecclesiastical groups present their own activities, each in its own stand providing the public with informational material. There is also a varied programme of ancillary cultural and spiritual events. Since 1970 the Katholikentag has been held under the direction of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). The last Katholikentag was held in Ulm in 2004: it was visited by some 30,000 Catholics, including numerous protagonists of political, social and economic life. The Evangelical counterpart of the Katholikentag is the Kirchentag: the first ecumenical Kirchentag was held in Berlin in 2003, bringing together the two events. The next ecumenical Kirchentag is planned for 2010. 498 PAGE PROGRAMME . The programme of events planned for the Katholikentag in 2006 was officially presented on 5 May. Two festivities, the one on Wednesday, the other on Saturday, invite the public to the meeting and to its varied programme of artistic and gastronomic delights. The stage installed by Caritas in the St. Johanner Markt will provide a venue for discussions, stage performance and actions focused on immigration, poverty and unemployment. In the city square named after Gustav Regler, the six leading German charities, Adveniat, Caritas International, Sternsinger, Misereor, Missio and Renovabis, together with the diocese of Trier, will be running a “global village” offering information, music, food, and also the chance to take part in actions, discussions and moments of prayer. Some 200 religious associations, orders and communities will be presenting themselves to enable visitors to participate in actions, songs or games. But this is only a tiny part of the huge number of events planned for the Katholikentag in Saarbrücken: it is enough to mention that the official programme of the event runs to 498 pages. Particular attention is being addressed to the young, to whom numerous events are being dedicated. WHAT IS JUSTICE? Four main themes provide leitmotifs for all the events: justice as key concept of biblical theology (“Who and what is just in the eyes of God and man?”); justice as touchstone for a changing country (analysis of the social situation in Germany, with particular attention to social justice); justice as criterion for the new Europe (the meeting in Saarbrücken as the occasion for a meeting with other Europeans, to ensure that the event has European significance); and justice as hope of people throughout the world (“To achieve justice at the international level, what action is really just?”). The discussion of these themes will take place through workgroups that will also participate in the common events, focused among other things on the liturgy, Jewish-Christian and Christian-Islamic dialogue. Other workgroups will run various “centres” focusing on particular aspects of the programme: the biblical centre, the spiritual centre, the centre “Partnership in Europe and in the world”, the centre for youth and the centre for ecumenical meeting are just some of these. The concept of justice, on which the Katholikentag 2006 is based, is also the protagonist of the website :http://www.katholikentag.de/>: visitors are invited to express their own concept of justice in a hundred words (“100 Worte Gerechtigkeit”). visitors are invited to express their own concept of justice in a hundred words (“100 Worte Gerechtigkeit”). ANTICONFORMISTS IN THE POSTERS . The posters advertising the Katholikentag in Saarbrücken portray people of all ages and conditions: “In the posters we see supermodels, VIPs, politicians and everything that plays a predominant role in our world. We wish to demonstrate that this does not go for everyone”, says the website of the Katholikentag. “In our posters we present groups of people who embody justice through their dedication to others. For this we sought ‘models’ who disinterestedly devote themselves to their fellowmen in the most varied ways. The projects presented in the posters are (in part) non-confessional and non-commercial: the people involved in them give their services free. In this way we wish to document the variety with which justice in God’s eyes is present in this world”.