Taking the run-up

Thursday, 9 November 1989: an historic date for Germany, which finally saw the start of the reunification process with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The end of the division of the two Germanys, East and West, sanctioned by the destruction of the wall, had been preceded by peaceful and bloodless demonstrations in East Germany, in particular by the so-called “Monday demonstrations” and by the “Monday prayers”, organized by the Evangelical [Lutheran] Church. Among the commemorations of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an ecumenical rite was celebrated in the Gethsemanekirche, the church of Gethsemane, in Berlin. It was officiated by the Most Rev. Robert Zollitsch, President of the German Bishops’ Conference, and Evangelical Bishop Wolfgang Huber, together with the Archbishop of Berlin Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky and representatives of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen (Ack – Community of work of the Christian Churches). Those present at the rite also included the President of the Federal Republic Köhler and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Here are a few thoughts taken from the homily of Mgr. Zollitsch.”We are still moved with gratitude and joyful wonder for this event. What seemed until shortly before unthinkable became a reality. Whoever wants to overcome walls must first take the run-up and accumulate energy. For many, this energy comes from prayer. The Monday Prayers gave to many – even non-members of the church and the unbaptized – the strength and the courage for the Monday demonstrations. Metaphorically, with each prayer a stone was removed from the wall”. “With reunification what had not been immediately compatible was also reunited: a Western country that seemed self-sufficient and an Eastern European country, with an underdeveloped economy, whose citizens had been damaged by the old ideology. The Germans of the East had not sought a life closed off from the world by a wall and by barbed wire. […] The people had to adapt to living a dignified life in a situation of a lack of freedom. Even in a State characterized by injustice it was possible to live a normal life, even if the absence of freedom involved compromises and painful limitations”. “Precisely the Churches, which took a real interest in people through their pastoral service and work in the parishes, were familiar with the conflicts of conscience and the daily problems of many people in Eastern Germany. Let’s not forget that: in the last analysis it was the plea for freedom of the masses that put an end to the DDR, as demonstrated by the mass demonstrations of October 1989. The citizens of East Germany conquered the life of freedom by themselves alone, albeit with a decisive contribution of the propitious political situations and the ardent desire for freedom of the peoples of Eastern Europe. In this context, the commitment of Pope John Paul II had a great effect: ever since the start of his pontificate he had worked tirelessly for a “change of heart inspired by the truth”. Let us remember that unification had many fathers and many mothers. They are persons who, then as now, were not under the spotlight of public opinion and who, nonetheless, each in her or her way, contributed to the fall of the Wall”. “The freedom and unity given to us Germans urge us to constant solidarity with individuals and peoples forced to live without freedom. From the fall of the Wall also derives the task of contributing to a Europe that serves to foster mutual understanding between peoples and States. The memory of 9 November 1989 and the commemoration of the terrible events of the night of the pogrom on 9 November 1938 teach us in an unequivocal way that walls – whether they be real or in the people’s minds and hearts – do not solve problems, on the contrary they create them. They compromise the future. The potential builders of walls are to be found everywhere, even today. They must not be given the chance to impose their will, neither in society, nor in the Churches. We are all of us called, both in the East and in the West, to continue to build bridges that unite us, with patience and perseverance”.