“Good morning. Are women priests allowed in your church?”.
“No, I’m sorry. We are Catholics, not Evangelicals.”
“And it is you all who have a kind of closet that contains the body of God?”.
“Yes, if you mean the tabernacle.”
“And you have that thing that goes all the way back to St. Peter?”.
“The tradition, certainly.”
“Well, I think you are exactly what I am looking for.”
Similar kinds of discussions happen to Fr. Gianluca Carlina, parish of the pastoral unit in Bad Godesberg in Bonn, Germany, and a priest of the Fraternity of St. Charles, who arrived to the city on the Rhine, which boasts of Ludwig van Beethoven among its most illustrious citizens, in 2021, after having served in Freiburg and Cologne. Fr. Carlin found himself in mission in VGermany since 1994 and those who still think that Old Europe does not have need of missionaries should take a walk among the streets of the former German capital. “Our district is in one of the most religious pockets of the country and the faithful Catholics are just 30,000 in about 78,000 inhabitants,” explains the pastor of the unit that collects the inheritance of 13 parishes that were at one time independent, characterized by a bulk immigration of Muslims and where the signs of the shops are more likely written in Arabic than in German. “The de-Christianization is increasingly diffused. There are not just those who have distanced themselves from the Church; by now there are many who simply know nothing about Jesus.” Like one of the three Germans in their twenties whom Fr. Carlin baptized in July and who, when they showed up at the parish last year, didn’t even know what the Eucharist was. “Many young people ask themselves about the problem of God; then they seek answers on Tik Tok and when they arrive to us, they ask the question in eccentric ways.”
Proselytism does not interest us, but these persons are thirsting for Christ.
Fr. Carlin laughs but knows that the question is serious: in 2024, Christians fell below 50% of the population and “there are areas in the East of the country where they do not even reach 5%.” The harvest is plentiful, in other words, and there is a great need for laborers. There are 8 priests of the Fraternity in Bonn and they take care of the many churches in the district of Bad Godesberg, as well as teaching in the schools, working with young people and hospitality of immigrants. In a Church as complicated as the German one, where Catholics feel competition with Protestants and are tempted to water down the Gospel message to have more “success,” the missionaries of the Fraternity go against the current and propose a radical experience of faith. “We do not invent anything; we don’t do anything other than present the tradition that the Church passed down to us. Without compromising to the lowest common denominator, however,” says Fr. Riccardo Aletti, who arrived in Germany in 2019 as a deacon. “We put the sacraments at the center. Every day we propose two hours of Eucharistic adoration and confession: it is moving to see how people participate, who are looking for a clear proposal and serious faith.”
Same for young people. This year, there were 110 young people prepared for Confirmation, “an extremely high number for Germany,” who all attended two meetings a week for eight months. And at the meeting on Sunday evening, there are anywhere from 50 to 100 young people. “We don’t do anything exceptional: we eat, we play some games, we discuss things together,” explains Fr. Davide Matteini, who arrived in Germany 11 years ago. “We propose a friendship, in a word. And when they discover the beauty of the community, it opens a new universe for the kids.”
For this reason, many Germans who had been distant from the Church return, others ask to be baptized and the conversions from other religions are also numerous. “These have been years of pure grace,” reflects Fr. Carlin. “We ourselves look in wonder at what God is doing here in Bonn. Many Muslims are asking to become Christian even knowing that in their home countries they risk the death penalty. They convert because they are amazed at how we welcome them and because, when we explain that the reason why we do everything is Jesus, they become fascinated by a God who comes close and loves. Proselytism does not interest us, but these persons, just like the young Germans who are rediscovering the faith, are thirsting for Christ. And we must announce the Gospel to all.”
