German archbishop highlights Pontiff’s concern for pastoral care of illegal immigrants
October 27, 2025
» Continue to this story on Vatican Radio (German)
CWN Editor's Note: In an interview that followed a recent papal audience, Archbishop Stefan Hesse recounted, “I told him that in the Archdiocese of Hamburg, a third of the Catholics have a migrant background.”
“Above all, his question was: How are people who are illegally in a country, who don’t have papers, doing?” the prelate continued. “And, above all, how pastoral care for these people would be possible.”
Archbishop Hesse told Vatican Radio that Sunday Mass is celebrated in Hamburg in over 20 languages. “Of course, I notice that it’s becoming difficult to find priests in the home countries who will then go on missions [to Germany], because there aren’t that many left,” he said.
Responding to a question on synodality, Archbishop Hesse said:
The clocks tick somewhat differently in different parts of the world. And it probably won’t be possible to synchronize all of this so easily; instead, we have to consider: How can a universal Church remain and be a universal Church in a pluralizing society, in all possible parts of this world? ...The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
I have the impression that the two popes are very different: Francis, with his temperament, has thrown a lot of things into the church, so to speak, perhaps also shaken things up and perhaps even brought a bit of unrest. And Leo seems to me more likely to be the one who organizes and brings things together a bit.
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