Ravensburg declaration

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The Ravensburg Declaration is an ecumenical document from 2017. The former Free Imperial City of Ravensburg was shaped by the parity of both denominations . From this derives a special commitment on the part of Ravensburgers for ecumenism as well as for interreligious dialogue .

Ecumenical and Eucharistic hospitality

Since 2014, the Protestant and Catholic parishes had intensified their ecumenical cooperation. On Sunday, October 8, 2017, the "Bread and Wine - Together at One Table" campaign took place in the old town of Ravensburg. To this end, a 400-meter-long table was set up between the Church of Our Lady and the Protestant town church . Numerous people took their places there for a meal with bread and juice. Finally, a joint declaration was signed in the city church by the Catholic pastor Hermann Riedle, the Protestant pastor Martin Henzler-Hermann and the Lord Mayor Daniel Rapp , with which the Catholic and Protestant churches in Ravensburg affirm their ecumenical cooperation and grant each other Eucharistic hospitality (“ Here on site we start with an inviting church by openly and warmly inviting each other to communion and the Lord's Supper ”). The chairman of the Catholic parish council and the Protestant church Municipal Council also and subsequently signed all church members who so wished. "In the episcopal Rottenburg there was silence on this remarkable event for a whole year" commented Thomas Seiterich for Publik-Forum .

The Catholic pastor later had to distance himself from the declaration on instructions from Rottenburg. At the end of September 2018, the Rottenburg bishop Gebhard Fürst forbade reciprocal invitations to communion and the Lord's Supper due to applicable church law. In October 2018, one year after the signing, Christians protested against this development with a silent march through Ravensburg.

On March 25, 2019, Bishop Gebhard Fürst explained his position in front of around 400 interested people in the fully occupied Ravensburger Schwörsaal. He did not reject the declaration in its entirety, he also emphasized the value of good ecumenical togetherness in Ravensburg, but he could not support the mutual invitation to communion and the Lord's Supper, as the two denominations had a different understanding of the changed host . "Without a changed theological understanding of this in the Protestant Church, Prince currently saw no possibility of an ecumenical Lord's Supper," explained the episcopal press office. Bishop Fürst recognized that Lutheran Christians also believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ in wine and bread, but great differences remained. In an exceptional situation, a Protestant Christian could receive communion, but a Catholic Christian was not allowed to take part in the Protestant Lord's Supper. Questions from the audience could be asked, which were then weighted, sorted and presented by the staff of the bishop.

Consultation time for a representative of the Evangelical Church was not planned for the event. Dean Friedrich Langsam had previously explained that the Protestant regional church basically invites Christians of other denominations to the Lord's Supper, and saw here an intra-Catholic problem, in which Protestants only wanted to be “interested listeners”.

Interreligious Dialogue

There is also a “Ravensburg Declaration for the Coexistence of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue in Ravensburg”. It was already signed on September 22nd, 2017 in the town hall and was supposed to prepare the foundation of a "Council of Religions" in Ravensburg. Representatives of the following religious communities joined the declaration:

  • Alevi cultural community Ravensburg,
  • Bahá'í group Ravensburg,
  • DITIB - Turkish-Islamic Community of Ravensburg,
  • Ev. General parish,
  • Islamic community of Bosniaks in Germany, Bodensee-Ravensburg region,
  • Catholic overall church community and keb - Catholic adult education in the Ravensburg district,
  • Russian Orthodox Community of Ravensburg.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Thomas Seiterich: Unsuccessful conversation about the Eucharist. In: Publik-Forum. March 27, 2019, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Bishop takes a stand on ecumenism and the “Ravensburger Declaration”. In: Episcopal Press Office. Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, March 26, 2019, accessed on March 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Bishop Fürst defends stance on the "Ravensburg Declaration" Christians speak about cooperation between the churches. In: domradio.de. March 26, 2019, accessed March 29, 2019 .
  4. ^ Signed the Ravensburg Declaration. In: City of Ravensburg. October 5, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2019 .