Ecumenical Church Congress 2010

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Logo of the Ecumenical Church Congress 2010
Pedestrian zone Neuhauser Straße during the ÖKT

The Ecumenical Kirchentag 2010 (ÖKT) was the second ecumenical Kirchentag that took place from May 12th to 16th, 2010 in Munich and had the motto “So that you have hope”. This motto was adopted by the Joint Presidium on October 25, 2008 and is borrowed from 1. Peter’s Letter , Chapter 1, Verse 21 (1 Petr 1.21 EU ). Due to the great success of the first ecumenical church convention in Berlin in 2003 , to which more than 200,000 visitors came and which dealt with many open questions about ecumenism , the German Evangelical Church Congress (DEKT) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) decided to set up a second Organize ecumenical church convention.

In a time of upheaval and a profound crisis of confidence, the highest governing body of the 2nd ÖKT wanted to give a signal of encouragement by referring to the common hope of all Christians. “Out of shared responsibility, we are looking for forms of joint action”, explained the Joint Presidium in an “Orientation Guide for the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress”. The common witness and commitment in the world, so the declaration further, can only be given “credibly” if “we continue to search for the visible unity of all Christians”.

planning

Ascension Day procession from the Frauenkirche to Odeonsplatz

On March 10, 2006, Friedrich Wetter , the then Catholic Archbishop of Munich and Freising, and Johannes Friedrich , the Protestant regional bishop of Bavaria, confirmed that the Kirchentag in Munich would take place from May 12th to 16th, 2010. A working group “On the way to the second Ecumenical Kirchentag” was then convened to prepare the Kirchentag under the motto “Christianity in society - Christianity for society”.

The Joint Executive Committee and the Joint Presidium of the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress were constituted on November 29th and 30th, 2007. The Joint Executive Committee consists of twelve members, the Joint Presidium of 43. Evangelical President for the 2nd ÖKT was Eckhard Nagel , Catholic President Alois luck .

The Ecumenical Congress met in Munich from November 30th to December 1st, 2007. More than 150 people from church and society came to this kick-off event for the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress and discussed topics that were considered to be important for the ecumenical process and the engagement of Christians in society in the coming years.

In March 2009 the Joint Presidium decided on the thematic tableau for the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress. This thematic framework comprised 40 central projects that were referred to the project commissions of the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress. They were given the task of developing specific events.

The main venue was the Messestadt Riem in the east of the state capital, but there were also events in the city center and in the Olympic Stadium . A budget of 18 million euros was expected. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria provided a total of 5.3 million euros for the preparation of the ÖKT .

subjects

Wunibald Müller (with yellow microphone) at a panel discussion

In addition to the Evangelical Church and the Catholic Church , the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany , in which Christian churches have come together, also took part in the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress . The participation of non-Christian religious communities was controversial: While the two presidents of the ÖKT, Eberhard Nagel and Hans-Joachim Meyer, were in favor of talks with Jews and Muslims within the framework of the ÖKT, this was rejected by Friedrich Cardinal Wetter . While Nagel and Meyer emphasized the open addressing of differences, Wetter said that addressing theological problems at a church convention could hardly contribute to their solution.

course

Despite the cold, more than 300,000 visitors came to the kick-off event "Evening of Encounters" in downtown Munich. There were culinary specialties at 195 stands, music was offered on 14 large stages and at countless other locations. At the end of the kick-off party, the Altstadtring was lit with 180,000 candles.

In the following days, more than 160,000 people took part in the second Ecumenical Church Congress, 130,000 of whom were permanent participants and around 11,000 daily participants each day. The four main topics dealt with the responsibility of the Christian for the world, the coexistence in a pluralistic society, the other religions and worldviews as well as the commonalities and possibilities of the different Christian denominations. These topics were dealt with in over 3,000 events (lectures and panel discussions) as well as in the exhibitions in the “Agora” area on the exhibition grounds. For the youth, workshops and discussion groups were offered in the area of ​​the Olympic Park. The unity of the churches was seen as possible by representatives of the various denominations, but also on a political level, despite the differences that still seem insurmountable today, as was expressed by Cardinal Karl Lehmann and Chancellor Angela Merkel , among others . Margot Käßmann , who resigned as President of the Council of the Evangelical Church in February of this year, attracted particular attention and spoke out against the war in Afghanistan and in favor of birth control .

The focus was also on the debate about the a. cases of abuse that have become known in the Catholic Church. Norbert Denef criticized the non-participation of the victims in the panel discussion.

100,000 people attended the final service on the Theresienwiese.

A common Lord's Supper for Catholic and Protestant Christians during the ÖKT was clearly rejected in advance by the leadership levels of both churches. According to the Protestant-Lutheran Bavarian regional bishop Johannes Friedrich and the Catholic Archbishop Reinhard Marx, such events harm the ecumenical movement. Instead, the Orthodox Church invited the faithful to eat blessed bread ( Artoklasia ) after a Vespers service .

On the other hand, Federal President Horst Köhler wanted a joint communion celebration shortly before the start of the ÖKT: The partial lockout seems unnatural to me. The separation between Protestants and Catholic Christians has dogmatic reasons, but from my point of view the more important question is pastoral care and that people do not run away from the churches.

An official Ecumenical Last Supper after the Lima Liturgy was celebrated at the ÖKT on Thursday evening between the Evangelical, Old Catholic and Anglican Churches . The old Catholic bishop Matthias Ring , the Anglican auxiliary bishop of Croydon, Nicholas Baines , the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig, Friedrich Weber , and the regional superintendent of the Evangelical Lippe regional church, Martin Dutzmann , stood at the altar in the Church of the Redeemer.

In advance, Peter Beyerhaus and Ulrich Rüß from the International Conference of Confessing Communities and Hubert Gindest from the Forum of German Catholics criticized the ÖKT program in an open letter, stating that 27 of around 3000 events were planned by gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people . In “such a mass” they meant “especially for young people in their search for meaning and inner support a misorientation.” Alois Glück , President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), rejected the criticism and referred to it during the ZdK General Assembly as "defamation". He advised laypeople to deal with the topic with "Christian calmness" and said: "Jesus loves these people too."

Web links

Commons : 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.epv.de/node/3970 (link not available)
  2. ↑ a b Second Ecumenical Church Congress 2010 in Munich - Christians should get more involved in society. epd - Bavarian State Service, March 10, 2006, archived from the original ; Retrieved May 17, 2008 .
  3. ↑ http://www.epv.de/node/3728 (link not available)
  4. ↑ 300,000 visitors to the "Evening of Encounters". 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag Munich 2010 eV, accessed on May 19, 2010 .
  5. ↑ 130,000 visitors to the 2nd ÖKT. 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag Munich 2010 eV, accessed on May 19, 2010 .
  6. ↑ Thematic tableau of the 2nd Ecumenical Church Congress in Munich 2010 ( Memento from March 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Round table and "ladder to heaven". Osthessen News, May 17, 2010, accessed on May 17, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Kirchentag celebrates Käßmann. Rheinische Post , May 15, 2010, archived from the original on May 20, 2010 ; Retrieved May 17, 2010 .
  9. ↑ The critics get applause. FAZ , May 14, 2010, accessed on May 17, 2010 . ; Matthias Kamann: Unintentionally, abuse is the number one topic. In: Die Welt, May 14, 2010 ( online )
  10. ↑ Barbara Hans: Victims of abuse on the Kirchentag “We finally want to be heard”. In: Spiegel online , May 14, 2010 ( online ); One-man demo at panel discussion. Abuse victim provokes scandal at the church convention. In: Spiegel online, May 14, 2010 ( online ); Kirchentag: scandal in the abuse debate. In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung , May 15, 2010 ( online ); Violent argument about abuse. In: Rheinische Post , May 14, 2010 ( online ( memento of July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )); Abuse victim storms podium. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , May 15, 2010 ( online )
  11. ^ ARD explosive: scandal on the church convention. In: ARD , May 14, 2010 ( online )
  12. ^ ARD Tagesschau: Abuse debate on the church convention. In: ARD, May 14, 2010 ( online )
  13. ↑ The insolent sacrifice. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 14, 2010 ( online )
  14. ↑ Matthias Kamann: Criticism of clergy is still considered an insult to majesty. In: Die Welt, May 15, 2010 ( online )
  15. ↑ Ecumenical Kirchentag ends with a call for cohesion. Die Welt , May 17, 2010, accessed on May 17, 2010 .
  16. ↑ Ecumenical Kirchentag 2010 - No Communal Last Supper. epd - Bavarian State Service, June 8, 2007, archived from the original on April 17, 2009 ; Retrieved May 17, 2008 .
  17. ↑ Zollitsch sees the Second Ecumenical Church Congress as an opportunity. May 9, 2010, accessed May 9, 2010 .
  18. ↑ http://www.epd.de/nachrichten/nachrichten_index_75539.html (link not available)
  19. ↑ bundespraesident.de of May 11, 2010 ( Memento of May 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Pictures from the Lima liturgy at the ÖKT in Munich
  21. ↑ Hubert Güßen, Peter Beyerhaus, Ulrich Rüß: Open letter to the leadership of the Ecumenical Church Congress: Ecumenical Church Congress - a missed opportunity! ( Memento of May 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), April 12, 2010, press releases at the Forum of German Catholics
    Criticism of the program of the Ecumenical Church Congress: a missed opportunity! , medrum.de, April 13, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Jesus loves these people too" , domradio.de, April 17, 2010.