Crotchet: yes, you’re right, I am a convert. I was a member of the main Protestant/ Lutheran church of Germany until Easter 2008.
I assume everybody has quite a story to tell about their conversion.
In my case it was rather difficult to come to grips with it, because I have always been a loyal to the grave person. ‘Betraying’ the institution I was baptized and confirmed into by renouncing membership in our City Hall gave me the most horrible, sick feeling and did make me feel like a traitor of the worst kind!
Martin Luther is regarded a local hero in my home town. He spent some time hiding from the Pope’s henchmen in our fortress (quite an impressive structure – nearly 1.000 years old, only ever conquered by US planes and tanks at the end of WW2). He translated some of the bible there and left a famous ink stain on the wall of his study –by throwing a barrel of ink against the wall in frustration – the stain is still there and quite visible.
Our local Royalty shifted their loyalty from Rome to Luther and ever since our area is predominantly Protestant.
I have a great relationship with out protestant minister. I’ve drank with him during several New Years Eve parties, I’m on the familiar ‘Du’ with him, one of his four children went to class with our middle son, he is frank and open with me about his divorce and about the war he has been fighting with his ex ever since (also a minister – one of the biggest dragon women I have ever met).
When I met him last year at our Parish fest (Catholic) he rushed over and exclaimed: “Oh thank God you’ve only converted! When I saw your renunciation letter, I thought we had lost you!!”
I told him some of the reasons: Holy Communion, the sacraments in general, the emotional dimension it adds to the rational dimension, the beauty, the refusal to yield to the ever destructive Zeitgeist. The fact that the Protestant church had turned into a social club, only concerned about worldly matters... and, and, and…
And then he said: “Well, the differences aren’t all so big, if only Rome would go along with the course of the local clergy, we would have much more unity and many more common services.”
Now that describes the situation in Germany perfectly. You have a Pope in far away Rome, who preached this, that and the other thing. Then you have a Bishop who might not really agree with all of that, and, because of that, you have Priests who are allowed to teach their own theology, use their self-crafted rubrics and, who are allowed to actively attack the Pope from their pulpits.
Then you have an active lay council who needs/wants/must be involved in everything! Many parish councils nowadays believe that they are on the same level as the Priest. In every single regard! And nobody is stopping them! If the Priest attempts, he is mercilessly mobbed out with every means possible.
The problem with the Protestants is: they don’t see/understand/comprehend/are not interested in the difference! Not in the slightest bit!!
To them, Catholics are some type of weird relics from the past without possessing any rationality (very important in Germany); with extremely strange customs and some type of dictatorship-hierarchy-> a big no-no!!
Germans don’t trust things they can’t rationalize, so they have succeeded into rationalizing and reducing the Lutheran version / vision of the church into a cold, bloodless, sleek, Teflon-like, well organized, club of soft-washed, tolerant, as-long-as-it-makes-you-happy, kumbajah folks.
But they have also maneuvered their church into irrelevance. Many Protestants in responsible positions don’t even deny that their idea of church is a democratic institution responsible for fighting climate change, intolerance, unfair government decisions, and many other socio-political matters. But they don’t see how much they’re ignored.
Fine, the Catholic Church is ignored as well, but at least their main focus in Christ!
Sorry… I really could write pages upon pages about all this. I’ve been so emotionally charged in the past three months, due to all those attacks on the Holy Father and the Church and now this ….
As much as I respect Mons. Mixa for finally stepping down for good, I do wonder who is going to be the next victim of the protestant/media/schismatic Catholics witch hunt. They won’t dare attacking Card. Meisner. He’s too strong. Mons. Müller is fearless, as well.
The next weeks will be interesting….
This is a link to the main page of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD).
www.ekd.de/
There you have it. The main event seems to be to talk 'Rome' into approving the famous common 'Abendmahl'. Again this topic is aggressivly pushed, without even the slightest regard to the Catholic meaning of the Eucharist!!
www.ekd.de/aktuell_presse/news_2010_06_23_3_abendmahl_dekt_dres...[Modificato da cowgirl2 24/06/2010 00:38]