Force and faith

The Holy Father is in Germany. In a message to the people of his Country, broadcast by German TV last Saturday, September 17, pope Benedict XVI conveyed with simple and significant words his joy over the upcoming meetings and with much appreciation previewed the events and the meetings, scheduled to take place in Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg.Like every Papal Visitation, this one too has it peculiarities. Not only because Germany is the homeland of Josef Ratzinger, who will be undertaking an official visit as Pope Benedict XVI, on the invitation of the government of the Federal Republic and of the local Church. The specific trait of this trip lies in the fact that the Holy Father will be receiving a warm welcome in a Country which in the 16th century – with the Protestant Reformation – originated the division of the Church, which confers to Germany a distinctive, conflicting role.The fact remains that since the Reformation period it has been hard to bring Protestants and Catholics to unity, with the result that in Germany two distinct religious cultures have developed, which remained poles apart for a long time. Efforts aimed at promoting ecumenism enabled to overcome past clashes, whereby the two Churches, their representatives and the faithful now entertain fraternal, friendly relations. But rapprochement and communality stemming from deep-rooted mutual understanding are just at the initial stages.That’s why German Christians especially look forward to the meeting of the Holy Father with the representatives of the German Evangelical Church, scheduled to take place in the Augustinian monastery of Erfurt, in that Augustinian church from which Luther started out. “There, together, we will pray and listen to the word of God, together we will reflect and converse”, said the Holy Father. “We are not expecting anything sensational”, he added cautiously, in the awareness that unfulfilled expectations could harm the ecumenical process.The Pope is visiting a well-organized Country, whose financial soundness and social stability are evident. It is a Country that is bound together by solid democratic consensus and by an implemented Constitution, in spite of divergences regarding the best ways to address specific political, economic and social questions.The spiritual situation of German society appears to be less consolidated than its political fundamental consensus. That’s why in his visit to Germany the Holy Father ascribes greater meaning to the question on how to “develop our ability to perceive God who is within us” than to the hopes and problems related to ecumenism. His Holiness dedicates to this question, that hinges on the slogan of the Papal Visitation “Where God is, there is future!” most of his message to the Germans. That question conveys also the concerns on widespread distancing from God expressed in many ways, including the aggressive atheism of an active minority that loudly demanded attention during the Pope’s visit. There are planned demonstrations against the Pope’s visit and several Bundestag MPs said they will stay away during the Holy Father’s address to the Parliament – on the invitation of German President – under the pretext that it supposedly violates the rule of Church-State division. As we will see in the course of the Apostolic Visitation of Benedict XVI to Germany, these are marginal demonstrations that will be countered by the strong faith of the guest and of his message: “In these days, therefore” said the Holy Father, “let us strive to commit ourselves to seeing God again so that we ourselves may become people who diffuse a light of hope in the world, the light that comes from God and helps us to live”.