Reject 'worldly' vision of Church, Pope urges German faithful [CWN]

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Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly called for reform within the Catholic Church–as well as efforts to counteract a secularizing trend in society–during the final hours of his visit to Germany …

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Pope Benedict XVI is wonderful, insightful and wise. i hope his visits to England, Portugal, Spain and now Germany has had an impact on European Catholics and other Christians in Europe.
 
Unfortunately I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the Holy Father’s journey. It seems his visit to the UK and Spain were very successful, how did it seem to go overall in Germany? I know there were concerns about protests and the like, but didn’t really seem to read anything negative over the visit.
 
SanAgustin said:
Unfortunately I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the Holy Father’s journey. It seems his visit to the UK and Spain were very successful, how did it seem to go overall in Germany? I know there were concerns about protests and the like, but didn’t really seem to read anything negative over the visit.
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It was wonderful! IMO, this was one of his most successful and historic visit to any European country. He spent 4 days in Germany and had a very hectic programme.

On day 1, he visited Berlin. He met with the German President and Chancellor (Note that this was a state visit.)
He later made a historic speech in the German Parliament. No religious leader has ever done this before and some opposition parties planned to boycott the speech. Some MPs boycotted it but it wasn’t conspicuous as compared to the noise they were making before the speech.

He finally celebrated Mass in the Berlin Olympia stadium with about 60.000 Catholics. It was so great! 🙂

I was in Berlin and I took some photos and posted them in the Back Fence section. Here is the thread: Pope Benedict XVI in Berlin 2011-09-22 (Photos)

On day 2, he visited a protestant stronghold in the city of Erfurt. He visited the the Monastry where Martin Luther was a monk and held a meeting with the Evangelical Church in Germany. He took part in an ecumenical church service. He also celebrated an open air Holy Mass with Catholic folks.

On day 3, he visited Freiburg–home of the President of the German Bishops’ Conference. He met with the former German Chancellor, 5 sex abuse victims, the Orthodox Church, seminarians and held a Prayer Vigil with youths.

On day 4, he met with members of the German Bishops’ Conference, German “Supreme Court” judges and finally held a departure ceremony at a former NATO air base before departing for Rome. Those present here were the German President* (and his wife), Interior Minister, Mayor of the city, the Cardinals, Bishops amongst others.

*Some background about the German President. He is a Catholic who divorced and remarried. His “new” wife is an Evangelical Christian. (In Germany, about 30% of the population are classified Catholics and 30% Evangelicals). They blessed their marriage in the Evangelical Church. The media spoke much about the topic of divorce on the first day of the Pope’s visit and the Archbishop of Berlin was asked whether the President was going to receive communion. He said it was possible under certain circumstances (I can’t quite remember) but that didn’t happen.

There were some protests for sure but very insignificant. The turn out of Catholics was so great so much so that the media was actually surprised and did cover more of what was actually related to the visit.

The motto of the visit was: “Where God is, there is the future” (forgive translation)–an old quotation of Pope Benedict.

“Whosoever believes, is not alone” Pope Benedict XVI
“The Catholic Church has a future in Germany” Pope Benedict XVI
“We are the Pope” (echoed by the media).
“A German Pope in a German city” Archbishop of Berlin

The Pope is an old man and seems weak. There are those who think that this is his last visit to his home country, Germany.

All in all, a great visit! A success! 👍
 
Article:
Pope Benedict cautioned the young people not to be misled by popular misconceptions of holiness, which suggest that saints are figures of unattainable virtue. The reality is quite different, he told them:
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There is no saint, apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who has not also known sin, who has never fallen. Dear friends, Christ is not so much interested in how often in your lives you stumble and fall, as in how often you pick yourselves up again. He does not demand glittering achievements, but He wants His light to shine in you. He does not call you because you are good and perfect, but because He is good and He wants to make you His friends. Yes, you are the light of the world because Jesus is your light.
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Great message of hope by Pope Benedict as we all fall short in many ways.
 
kelvinf said:
It was wonderful! IMO, this was one of his most successful and historic visit to any European country. He spent 4 days in Germany and had a very hectic programme.

On day 1, he visited Berlin. He met with the German President and Chancellor (Note that this was a state visit.)
He later made a historic speech in the German Parliament. No religious leader has ever done this before and some opposition parties planned to boycott the speech. Some MPs boycotted it but it wasn’t conspicuous as compared to the noise they were making before the speech.

He finally celebrated Mass in the Berlin Olympia stadium with about 60.000 Catholics. It was so great! 🙂

I was in Berlin and I took some photos and posted them in the Back Fence section. Here is the thread: Pope Benedict XVI in Berlin 2011-09-22 (Photos)

On day 2, he visited a protestant stronghold in the city of Erfurt. He visited the the Monastry where Martin Luther was a monk and held a meeting with the Evangelical Church in Germany. He took part in an ecumenical church service. He also celebrated an open air Holy Mass with Catholic folks.

On day 3, he visited Freiburg–home of the President of the German Bishops’ Conference. He met with the former German Chancellor, 5 sex abuse victims, the Orthodox Church, seminarians and held a Prayer Vigil with youths.

On day 4, he met with members of the German Bishops’ Conference, German “Supreme Court” judges and finally held a departure ceremony at a former NATO air base before departing for Rome. Those present here were the German President* (and his wife), Interior Minister, Mayor of the city, the Cardinals, Bishops amongst others.

*Some background about the German President. He is a Catholic who divorced and remarried. His “new” wife is an Evangelical Christian. (In Germany, about 30% of the population are classified Catholics and 30% Evangelicals). They blessed their marriage in the Evangelical Church. The media spoke much about the topic of divorce on the first day of the Pope’s visit and the Archbishop of Berlin was asked whether the President was going to receive communion. He said it was possible under certain circumstances (I can’t quite remember) but that didn’t happen.

There were some protests for sure but very insignificant. The turn out of Catholics was so great so much so that the media was actually surprised and did cover more of what was actually related to the visit.

The motto of the visit was: “Where God is, there is the future” (forgive translation)–an old quotation of Pope Benedict.

“Whosoever believes, is not alone” Pope Benedict XVI
“The Catholic Church has a future in Germany” Pope Benedict XVI
“We are the Pope” (echoed by the media).
“A German Pope in a German city” Archbishop of Berlin

The Pope is an old man and seems weak. There are those who think that this is his last visit to his home country, Germany.

All in all, a great visit! A success! 👍
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You have no idea how good this post of yours made me feel. Thanks a lot, you made my day! 😛
 
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