Many reflections on Benedict XVI’s third German visit are worth particular attention. Benedict is in his home turf in Germany. It is a place to which he hoped to return after his service to the Church in Rome after the death of John Paul II. Here I want to comment briefly on three of Benedict’s addresses in Freiburg, one to the lay faithful, one to young people, and one to German Catholic leaders.
The pope recalls various “exposure programmes” in which groups of experts are sent to various countries in the world to report back on the conditions found there. Suppose that a similar group would come to Germany to find out what the religious condition of the country might be. What would they find? “They would find much to admire here, for example the prosperity, the order and the efficiency. But looking on with unprejudiced eyes, they would also see plenty of poverty, poverty in human relations and poverty in the religious sphere.”
Read Full Article »