Berlin Conference Unites Catholics and Protestants 

Nearly 500 years after the church in Rome was first challenged by German religious reformer Martin Luther, Protestants and Catholics have come together in Berlin this week in hopes of achieving greater Christian unity. Germany's first ecumenical Kirchentag (church conference) opened Wednesday evening (May 28) with a religious service at the Brandenburg Gate for a crowd of 140,000, including President Johannes Rau and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. In a message sent to mark the occasion, Pope Johannes Paul II wrote that the event "should serve as a sign that our togetherness in faith is stronger and more important than what separates us."

The festive ceremony, punctuated by trumpet fanfares and gospel singing, was to be the first event in a five-day program of worship services, panel discussions and concerts ending Sunday (June 1). Participants came from towns and cities across Germany as well as other countries, with close to 200,000 expected to attend. Guests of honor include Nobel Peace Prize winners Carlos Belo of East Timor, Rigoberta Menchú of Guatemala and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile.

"What a road we have traveled from the division of the church in the 16th century to a new solidarity at the beginning of the 21st century!" remarked Rau before the joint congregation Wednesday. The implications of the conference reach beyond the church to all of society, he said. 

Both Chancellor Schröder and Elisabeth Raiser, president of the Protestant church conference, called on Catholics and Protestants alike to contribute to economic development in the poorest countries, in part by supporting a campaign to forgive debt. "If we can't give the poorest countries of the world a future, then security in our half of the world, too, will remain a chimera," said Schröder. Every year, Raiser noted, "more than 9 million euros [US$10.7 million] more debt interest flows from the countries in the south to the north than development aid flows from the north to the south."

Organizers see the joint conference as the start of a new tradition, one that will change both churches and help Christians take a more active role in the world. According to a poll published Tuesday, the majority of Germans consider the division between Catholic and Protestant churches no longer appropriate. Some 57% of those asked said they saw no good reason for the separation today, with Catholics (66%) somewhat more in favor of unity than Protestants (60%).

Many conference participants were disappointed earlier this spring when the pope issued an encyclical forbidding Catholics to celebrate communion with churches whose theology is not fully in keeping with Rome's. Although some congregations have invited members of other confessions to the communion table, conference organizers are urging everyone to abide by their own church's rules.

Nearly all members of the chancellor's cabinet are expected to attend the conference, and discussion topics won't be limited to religious issues. Among other themes, participants will air their views on social welfare reform in Germany, the consequences of the war in Iraq and the future of the United Nations. Representatives from Jewish and Islamic communities will also take part. "The fear of terrorism has led in many places to a renewed marginalization of Islam," said Raiser. "We want to send out a signal against this."