Germany: Hannover, St Clement’s basilica turns 300. Mgr. Tenge (rector), “the home of Catholics”

A busy schedule of celebrations is going to start after the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year for the 300^th anniversary of the dedication of St Clement’s basilica in Hannover, in the diocese of Hildesheim, with over 70 events for the Catholics of Lower Saxony in tribute to the first Catholic church ever built all over the area after the Lutheran Reformation, which has become the place to go-to for everyone in Lower Saxony. On November 4^th 1718, Bishop Agostino Steffani, vicar apostolic of Upper and Lower Saxony since 1709, unveiled the Church of St Clement: in seven years, it was built in a Venetian Baroque style. Both mgr. Steffani and the master builder, Tommaso Giusti, came from Veneto. Destroyed during WWII, the basilica was rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1957, as a symbol of dialogue and peace between peoples. “A lot of things have happened in 300 years, we want to celebrate them with a great programme”, states the superintendent, mgr. Martin Tenge, ”Rector ecclesiae” at St Clement, which was raised to the status of a Minor Basilica in 1998 by John Paul II, as the main Catholic church in and around Hannover. “At the same time, St Clement’s has always been home to all Catholics all over the world”, Tenge points out. That’s why this anniversary is not all about the past. “We are interacting with the city, its citizens and politics”, the rector emphasises. This explains the guiding principles of the anniversary: “The future pays tribute to history”.