Prayer is the key to building bridges, Pope tells German Catholics

May 30, 2014

German Catholics are meeting in Regensburg from May 28 to June 1 for Katholikentag, a gathering held 99 times since 1848. The theme of this year’s meeting, which includes some 1,000 events, is “building bridges with Christ.”

In his message for the occasion, dated May 23 and released on May 30, Pope Francis said that Christ is the bridge among peoples and the bridge between God and man. In the “bloody century” that saw World War I and subsequent wars, walls grew in hearts, and the Berlin Wall was built. As people prayed regularly for peace, the Berlin Wall fell.

The key to “building bridges with Christ,” the Pope continued, is prayer, which is “no one-way street” but an “authentic dialogue.” Because Christ speaks to us through the Gospel and our encounters with others, it is important to read the Gospel often, he added.

 

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Further information:

• Messaggio per la 99° Giornata dei cattolici tedeschi a Ratisbona (Holy See Press Office)
• Bridges of encounter and exchange (Katholikentag)