"A great gift, not only for the Catholic Church of our country, but for the community of Christians and of the Churches, for the whole country": this is the opinion of the leader of the German Evangelical Church, Wolfgang Huber, about the work of card. Karl Lehmann, the resigning president of the German Bishops Conference. In a letter to Lehmann, Huber expresses his "sadness" for his resignation, combined however with "great respect and understanding" for the reasons that led to such resignation. Huber expressed his gratitude for the work carried out by the cardinal in the ecumenical sphere, which "strengthens the sense of belonging and the cooperation of the Christians in the Churches. The ecumenical spirit that he represented must keep being decisive", he concluded. His opinion is shared by the Greek-Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Germany, who is also the president of the Commission of the Orthodox Church (Kokid), Augoustinos, who defined Lehmann "a committed and prominent advocate of ecumenism, a reliable partner and a sincere friend of Orthodoxy. We are glad he will stay on as the Bishop of Meinz, because we will need his experience and advice". The president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (Zdk), Hans Joachim Meyer, thanked the cardinal for "his cooperation, imbued with mutual trust, for his faithfulness to principles and for his willingness to listen". ” “
