2 - 2001

Protestans and Catholics in Germany

Miracles are still possible

The first Ecumenical Kirchentag in Germany

by Brigitte Böttner

From 28 May to 1 June 2003, the first Ecumenical Kirchentag (German Church Convention) will be held in Berlin. It follows the tradition of the biennial German Protestant Kirchentag and the biennial Catholic Convention, which until now have been held separately, in alternate years, each gathering more than a hundred thousand Christians together. At the Ecumenical Kirchentag, the lay members of the two largest churches in Germany will for the first time speak with one united voice.

The decision to hold a joint Ecumenical Kirchentag was taken in October 1996. At that time, the German Protestant Kirchentag agreed to back the proposal of the German Catholics’ Central Committee to hold an Ecumenical Kirchentag during the holy year 2000 instead of a Catholic Convention. However, since the time for preparation proved to be too short, the year 2003 was chosen instead.
Berlin was chosen as the venue for many reasons: the situation of the two churches and their members in the secularised big city – a scenario in which it seemed that the future conditions for Christianity were being, as it were, anticipated; Berlin’s significance as the capital of reunited Germany; the special relationship to the eastern German states and their history, and not least of all the tradition of the great Kirchentage and Catholic Conventions in Berlin.

In planning this Kirchentag, Protestant and Catholic laypersons will schedule an ecumenical premiere. Their declared purpose is a "time check”, in society and politics as well as ecumenically. The cross-confessional event will do similar things as the previous Kirchentag and Catholic Conventions have done, with the new element that in 2003, the laity of the two largest churches in Germany will be speaking together with one voice.

This does not mean they will demonstrate more effectively that they "always have the right answers”, as Elisabeth Raiser, President of the German Protestant Kirchentag, emphasised. She pointed out that Christians, however, all develop the criteria for their actions based on the same principles. Thus looking for answers which are appropriate to the times is "a task which is Christian in the most original sense.

What we have learned from the Gospel is not to be resigned to mainstream solutions which accept that people are victimised by a system, that people in our prosperous country slip through the social welfare safety net, or that they fall prey to hunger, war or environmental disaster anywhere in the world."

Those planning the Ecumenical Kirchentag expect, that the issues and developments which are virulent problems today will not have been solved in 2003, but will more likely have become even more urgent. "European questions” such as the economic and social upheaval in central and eastern Europe, EU expansion, migration and demographic changes and the common currency will certainly be on the programme of the Ecumenical Kirchentag, as well as how to deal with our increasingly violent and xenophobic society.

Elisabeth Raiser points out that the joint Kirchentag in Berlin is itself the fruit of a movement towards each other which has taken place over 40 years. "Finally we dare to demonstrate publicly and visibly, that we really no longer feel separate; that a lot of the old prejudices have been overcome for a long time, that we have a common basis in our faith which is stronger than all the divisions.” In this sense, she hopes, the joint Kirchentag will also intensify the dialogue with other religions, especially Judaism and Islam.

The "ecumenical time check” at the Kirchentag will stress the "common commitment on behalf of the world” and give priority to that which unites in the faith of the different confessions, though without "steering clear of or keeping quiet about” that which divides, according to Elisabeth Raiser. In what Bishop Wolfgang Huber of Berlin calls a "meeting eye to eye”, mutual respect is the watchword.

Even so, there are hopes for progress in the question of sharing the Lord’s Supper around the Ecumenical Kirchentag 2003, although the organisers are not counting on it. Even towards the press, they do not want to exclude the hoped-for miracle; however, the "success” of the Ecumenical Kirchentag does not depend on whether it actually includes a common celebration of the Lord’s Supper, said the organisers.

No further debate is needed as to whether there is, in principle, a longing for a common Communion celebration to which all confessions are invited. Even in 1996, the Presidents of the Central Committee and the Kirchentag made known that there was a will to keep moving closer together on the question of the Eucharist, and furthermore agreed "to do everything possible in the area of shared worship” until this goal is reached. Catholic Bishops expressed their fear, at that time, that in the course of this major ecumenical event "a practice of shared Communion could arise which is theologically irresponsible”. This uneasiness is not without reason, since there were isolated instances of intercommunion in 1971 at the Ecumenical Pentecost Meeting in Augsburg. At the time of subsequent Catholic Conventions there were also ecumenical Communion celebrations, though outside the official programme.

Ecumenical "revolutionaries” would not like to imagine having to give up celebrating the Lord’s Supper at the first Ecumenical Kirchentag. On the other hand there are enough moderate voices warning against "pushing it through before its time”, in order not to damage the ecumenical cause as a whole.

In view of the "awkward letter from Rome”, as Bishop Joachim Wanke of Erfurt called the Vatican’s Document Dominus Iesus, no changes are expected by 2003 in the doctrinal position. Warnings against #letting hopes rise too high said that "wishes should not be taken for reality” and "the Ecumenical Kirchentag should not be turned into a council”.

This article by Brigitte Böttner, editorial staff member of the Catholic monthly "Herder Korrespondenz”, appeared in the January 2001 issue. We publish it here in abridged form.