2 - 2001

Protestans and Catholics in Germany

Editorial

In recent decades there has been remarkable improvement in the cooperation between Catholics and Protestants. The violent religious conflicts of the past centuries, and the animosities during long stretches of the 20th century, have long since been forgotten. There are many reasons for this good ecumenical collaboration. In Germany it has been made easier by the fact that neither church is in the majority, but rather Catholics and Protestants each represent nearly half of all German Christians. Thus at national level there is no majority-minority problem. Movements within the population in recent decades, mostly work-related, have also increased the diversity of confessions in each of the individual Länder (states).

A crucial element has been the will on the part of both church leaders and people in local congregations to overcome the old rifts and bear witness together to the liberating and uniting message of the Gospel. The smaller Protestant "free churches” in Germany have also played an important role in this. Good ecumenical collaboration is visible, for instance, in many plans for joint work projects and statements made by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany. But it can also be seen in numerous joint worship services held by neighbouring local churches. The World Day of Prayer worship services were the pioneers in this regard. Certainly there are also still a great many pastors and local church members who have reservations vis-à-vis the members of other confessions, but by now they are the ones whose attitude makes them conspicuous. Youth in particular take for granted the bypassing of the old confessional rifts, so that, for example, many Catholic young people come to the Protestant Church Convention (Kirchentag), and many Protestant young people attend the Catholic Convention. These young people, moreover, are not the only ones looking forward to the first ever Ecumenical Kirchentag in 2003.

However, it is precisely this increasing nearness to one another that makes it so painful to experience that which still divides Protestants and Catholics, in Germany as elsewhere. There is a great desire in many congregations and among many Christians to be able at last to celebrate Communion together, not just unofficially, as sometimes happens, but as a recognised sign of unity in Christ. Protestant Christians are even discussing what it would take to reach a common understanding of the role of the Pope in the church, so that the papacy would not continue to be an obstacle to greater unity. But this is a question which must first be dealt with inside the Catholic Church. It remains to be seen whether one day there will be a shared understanding of the role of the papacy. There are intensive debates going on, in which controversial positions are being taken – a good sign, because they are preparing the way towards more common ground.
This growth in common ground, ecumenically committed Christians in Germany are convinced, is all the more needed because the churches are faced with the responsibility of joining all their energies to bear on the world-wide problems which threaten the future of humankind and are leading to more and more social problems in rich countries like Germany. There are encouragingly many examples of ways this can be done, on both national and local levels.