Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, called on Christians to stand up for democracy in his end-of-year sermon in Munich’s Liebfrauendom.
Marx said that he was going into the coming year “with great concern.” On the one hand, there are the wars “on our doorstep”, but also the danger that authoritarian thinking, populists and conspiracy theorists pose for democracies – in Europe but also worldwide: “I am extremely worried about this.”
At the same time, he is concerned with the church membership study of the Evangelical Church in Germany 2023, which clearly showed that although people increasingly wanted social commitment from the church, they valued the importance of faith practice, church services and prayer less and less. It is not the right reaction to “dissolve the core of the Christian faith in favor of purely charitable and social activity.” This is also the task of the church, but not only.
In order to overcome the challenges on a social level as well as in private life and to face them with confidence, Christians need the strength of their faith. “I am convinced that the power of prayer is of extraordinary importance,” explained Marx, because “in prayer a new horizon opens up.”
The nation is “not an invention of God”, but a human invention, warns Christian Kopp, the Bavarian Protestant regional bishop.
(Photo: Lennart Preiss/dpa)
Christian Kopp also set similar priorities. In his first New Year’s sermon as Bavarian Protestant regional bishop, he lamented the rise of nationalism in many countries. In the political debate about migration and people who have been left behind, nationalism is “really on the rise again,” said Kopp in Munich’s St. Matthew’s Church.
Kopp referred to the love of God and respect for every person “no matter how they look, how they speak, how they think.” When the European Parliament is re-elected in 2024, it should be taken into account that the nation is “not an invention of God”, but a human invention.
Kopp preached on the annual motto for 2024, “Let everything you do be done in love,” a sentence from the New Testament of the Bible. A year of love, “oh, that would be nice,” said the bishop, but unfortunately there is also a lot of lovelessness and hatred every day, in personal life and in world events.
However, hate and violence are not just there, they are created. Only love can help against hatred and violence. What is also important is love for yourself, respect and respect for your own attitude. “Without loving treatment of myself, there is also little loving treatment of others,” said Kopp.