MOURNING
On Thursday, March 22nd, the president of the Bishops Conference (Dbk), card. Reinhard Marx, will officiate a “Requiem Mass” in memory of his predecessor in St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin. “In his two decades as president of DBK, card. Lehmann often visited Bonn and Berlin for political reasons”, a release from DBK explains. “With the funeral service, the members of the Federal government, the German Bundestag, and all devotees are invited to commemorate the dead cardinal”. The funeral service for card. Karl Lehmann will be officiated instead in Mainz Cathedral on Wednesday March 21st at 3.00 pm by the current bishop, the cardinal’s successor, mgr. Peter Kohlgraf. Since March 13th, the body has been displayed in the church of the seminary, “so devotees may take leave of the cardinal”. O the day of the funeral service, it will be taken to the cathedral in a “silent funeral procession” through downtown Mainz; “only the biggest bell of the cathedral, Martin’s Bell, will be rung”. The cathedral will accommodate 1500 people, another one thousand people will be on the square in front, equipped with some large screens. The ceremony will also be broadcasted live. The cardinal’s body will be laid to rest in the episcopal grave in the cathedral. “On the day of the funeral service, all the bells of the diocese’s churches will be rung for one hour at 12.00 pm to commemorate the deceased cardinal”, the diocese says, “and the flags on the church buildings will be flown at half-mast”.
