Confession Sunday

The commitment Sunday or Jugendbekenntnistag is a prescribed purpose Sunday in the church year in which especially young people, members of Catholic youth are or in church youth associations, their commitment to show publicly that they to Jesus Christ believe.

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origin

At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, more and more associations were formed to promote youth work in the Catholic Church . Young people demanded their own youth-appropriate ways to live their faith. A Catholic youth movement emerged , which experienced a great boom after the First World War. The youth associations throughout Germany now chose Trinity Sunday as the date for supra-parish religious celebrations and rallies.

The organized youth associations and parish youth groups met at a special place, went there with flag delegations and celebrated church services together. As a rule, this was combined with a subsequent get-together and exchange.

The time of National Socialism

From 1934 onwards, the Catholic youth organizations had to accept increasing restrictions on their external activities from the Nazi regime . From July 23, 1935, police ordinances prohibited them from practicing any activity except purely religious, initially in Prussia and then throughout the German Reich. It turned out to be necessary to find new organizational forms of youth work. The emphasis was on religious celebrations, rallies, light processions and pilgrimages . The annual Confession Sunday was therefore given a completely new status.

In 1935 the National Socialists moved the Reich Sports Festival to Trinity Sunday and thus deprived the Catholic youth associations of the opportunity to continue to meet on that day. As an alternative date, the 1925 by Pope Pius XI. introduced Christ the King Sunday, then the last Sunday in October. On this day, Christ is venerated as King of the world . The choice of this date could be understood as a counterpoint to the dictatorship of National Socialism. During these years the youth associations increasingly carried banners with the Christ monogram in order to set a sign against the swastika flag . In Cologne Cathedral alone, 30,000 young people met at 5 a.m. for the Christmas festival in October 1934.

The situation today

After the Second World War , the tradition of Confession Sunday was initially resumed. However, towards the end of the 1950s it lost its importance. There were several reasons for this. There was no longer any need to counterbalance a dictatorship; society as a whole showed less interest in the faith, in the church and its clubs and associations, and the number of members of the youth associations declined. Catholic youth work and its associations decentralized, educational institutions and other centers for youth work emerged, which established their own festivals and celebrations. Confession Sunday has not been officially abolished, it is just no longer celebrated as a central event.

In some (arch) dioceses , attempts have been made again for a number of years to give youth work its own church festival. The Diocese of Passau deliberately includes young people in the liturgy on Christmas King Sunday ; in the Archdiocese of Bamberg there is a separate Youth Sunday on the 5th Sunday after Easter , on which a central youth service is celebrated in an exposed location (e.g. Staffelberg near Bad Staffelstein ).

Key words of the Confessional Days

1936: Praise the gentlemen 1937: The word of the Lord remains forever 1938: Salvation is in the cross 1939: Christian, recognize your dignity 1940: Lift up your hearts 1941: Be minded like Christ Jesus 1942: Ave Maria 1943: That is the will of God: your sanctification 1944: Does not extinguish the mind 1945: You are the body of Christ 1946: One carries the other's burden

1947: You are to be a witness for me 1948: Glorify God in your body 1949: Christ yesterday, today and forever 1950: Christ our Peace 1951: Where there is love, there is God 1952: The Lord is the salvation of our people 1953: Subdue the earth 1954: God's Kingdom is coming 1955: Called to freedom 1956: To the limits of the earth

1957: You can change the world 1958: Jesus Christ is Lord 1959: Persevere in prayer 1960: Bread for the life of the world 1961: The Truth Will Set You Free 1962: For the world to believe 1963: God wants the earth 1964: Joy in God is our strength 1965: You are God's people 1966: You are to be my witnesses 1967: Dare to be free

Remarks

1. ↑ Archbishop Dr. Jacoubs von Hauck: Instructions for the diocesan youth pastor , Bamberg, November 15, 1937, point I.1)
2. ↑ Barbara Schellenberger: Catholic Youth and Third Reich. A history of the Catholic Young Men Association 1933-1939 with special consideration of the Rhine Province. Matthias Grünewald Verlag Mainz 1975, p. 126ff.
3. ↑ Josef Seuffert : Praise the Lord. Liturgical education and church youth work. In: Karl Wuchterl (Ed.): A future for the past. 75 years Jugendhaus Düsseldorf. 2nd edition, Düsseldorf 1985, pp. 40-45, here p. 43.

literature

• BDKJ - Archbishop's Youth Welfare Office Bamberg: Traces on our way. Bamberg 2001, ISBN 3-89889-115-1 .
• Fuchs, Hofmann, Thieme: Christ! - not Hitler. Sankt Ottilien 1984, ISBN 3-88096-149-2 .