Ecumenical prospects were one of the main issues discussed during the plenary assembly of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK) held in Bonn on 4-5 May. Referring to the possibility of a common eucharistic celebration during the next ecumenical Kirchentag (Church Convention), scheduled to be held in Munich in 2010, Hans Joachim Meyer, President of the ZDK, interviewed by Cologne’s Catholic radio station Domradio, replied: “We have always said that common eucharistic celebration is not a means of unity, but the expression of unity and we have still not reached that level of unity. We are striving for it, we are praying for it, but its pace cannot be forced by public actions”. During the last ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin in 2003 some Evangelical and Catholic Christians did celebrate together, but outside the official programme. “The ecumenical work of the organizers”, on the one side the ZDK, on the other the DEKT, “is being pursued”, assured Meyer. “Preparations for Munich 2010 have been begun and good general conditions exist. They now need to be fleshed out”, also in view of a joint congress at the end of the year. “The main interest is focused on the social commitment of all Christians. Apart from good cooperation, we must also accustom ourselves to the tensions which characterize ecumenism, and from which its vitality is also derived”, concluded Meyer.
