Is Germany Awakening?

 

 

Seems that there may be some movement back to the Christian roots in Germany (HT Closed Cafeteria)

So some may be surprised at the receptivity in Germany this week to visiting Pope Benedict XVI’s message: Europe needs to rethink the thesis that secularism and economic progress go hand in hand. Coincidentally, some of Europe’s stalwart secularists are challenging the idea that religious reasoning inevitably retreats from the public sphere as countries modernize.

Germans themselves are modeling a growing acceptance of religion’s role in shaping society:

• Head of state Angela Merkel – the daughter of a Protestant minister – this month renewed calls to include a specific reference in the EU constitution to Europe’s Christian heritage.

• There are more theologians in the German parliament than in any other Western parliament, including the US Congress. And when the last government cabinet was sworn in, nearly every member – instead of the usual 50 percent – opted for the religious version of the inaugural oath, according to Karsten Voigt, coordinator of German-American relations at the foreign ministry.

• In a recent survey gauging the perceived credibility of different professions, pastors were ranked in the Top 5.

• German students must take either ethics or religion classes, though Berlin recently made ethics compulsory, and religion optional. Mr. Voigt reports that “more and more” high schoolers in the state of Brandenburg are opting for religion too.

• Church attendance is no longer declining, and in one state the number of young churchgoers is going up, says Voigt.

Judas Iscariot

The Vatican Information Service posted B16’s recent comments concerning Judas and the mystery of salvation.

JUDAS ISCARIOT: MYSTERY OF DIVINE PLAN OF SALVATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 18, 2006 (VIS) – During today’s general audience, Benedict XVI dedicated his remarks to the figure of Judas Iscariot, and to his successor in the group of the twelve Apostles, Matthias. The audience was held in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of more than 30,000 people.

  “The name of Judas Iscariot,” said the Pope, “always appears last in the lists of the Twelve … [which also] recall the fact of his betrayal as having already been accomplished.” However, he added, the evangelists do emphasize Judas’ status as an Apostle “to all effects.”

  “We ask ourselves why Jesus chose this man and put His trust in him. … Even more uncertain is the mystery concerning his eternal fate.” However “it is not for us to judge his gesture, putting ourselves in the place of God, Who is infinitely merciful and just.”

  “Why did he betray Jesus?” the Holy Father asked. “Some people highlight the question of his greed for money. Others favor a messianic explanation: Judas was disappointed to see that Jesus’ plans did not include the political-military liberation of his country.”

  Benedict XVI pointed out how the evangelists explain Judas’ betrayal “going beyond the historical reasons,” and attributing it to “the personal responsibility of Judas who miserably submitted to a temptation of the Evil One. … Jesus treated him like a friend but, in His invitations to follow Him, … did not force people’s will or protect them from the temptations of Satan, respecting human freedom. Truly, there are many ways in which the human heart can be perverted. The only way to obviate them is … to be in full communion with Jesus.”

  Judas’ repentance “degenerated into desperation and thus became self-destruction. For us, this is an invitation never to despair of divine mercy.”

  Even Judas “negative role” is part of God’s mysterious plan of salvation, said the Pope, explaining how “God takes Judas’ inexcusable gesture as an occasion for the total donation of the Son for the redemption of the world.” Judas was replaced by Matthias “of whom we know nothing more, save that he was a witness to the entire earthly teaching of Jesus, remaining faithful to Him unto the end,” his election “almost compensating the betrayal. Here,” said Pope Benedict, “is a final lesson: if even in the Church there is no lack of unworthy and false Christians, it is up to each of us to counterbalance the evil they commit with our own clear witness of Jesus Christ.”

  At the end of the audience, the Pope made reference to yesterday’s accident on Rome’s underground railway system in which one person was killed and 236 were injured. “At this painful moment,” he said, “I am especially close to those affected by this tragic event. To them I express my affection and give assurances of a special recollection in my prayers.”