A biblical community of faith (in Germany)

Because of the synodal way in the German Church and the frank, open, and clear disobedience of a large percentage of the clergy (priest, bishops, and some cardinals) many catholics in other parts of world can't help but wonder and comment on it. The often repeated question of what do non-schismatic Catholics do in Germany to survive is a justified one. My perspective is far form unbiased on this hot topic as it is based on my own experience but I think people should know of this other side of Catholicism in Germany. Far from church politics and the papacy there is a hidden life, a community of faith that perseveres on in the middle of a Church in crisis. It is hard to put into words the life in that community, which runs parallel to the life of the dying diocesan parishes with their unorthodox practices, so I will be brief. 

When I first arrived in Germany, to the city of Dresden in the east, I found it at first difficult to adapt to the German mass. The structure was the same but it was the first time I had been at a loss to understand a homily. Then confession was another challenge, where to find a Spanish speaking priest until my German was up to muster? In the background to help was a good friend from Oxford, who was from Germany and had lived in many cities across the country including Dresden. To my first horrified expression of what is going on in the Church in Germany, he made it a point to introduce me to the Catholic world I then became totally integrated in. And what a beautiful world I discovered. I wish I could transmit into words what I lived there but it is zu tief. 

There are some things I can highlight. The pilgrimages, reading groups,  worship evenings, retreats, wanders in the forest, Nightfever, and just enjoying each other's company. A group united in faith. Germany is a place of several Marian apparitions and one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen was erected in commemoration of one of these. The one for Maria Consolatrix in Kevelaer, a small village in Niederrhein about an hour east of Dusseldorf. Several of my friends are from the area and so we made a weekend of it and walked from my friend's house, his parents very kindly took our entire group in for the weekend, to Kevelaer in time for the morning mass and brunch. A lovely late spring pilgrimage of about 15 km following in the footsteps of many other pilgrims to our of Lady's sites. In typical form we had not realized it was the yearly Ukranian Catholic Mass that morning and everything went on for a bit longer than planned.

Another time we went on retreat to the mountains, a beautiful and cosy family farmhouse, lent to us by the father of another friend for the weekend. Since it was February everything was covered in a thick and fluffy layer of snow. We had a priest with us for talks and mass, we cooked together and took walks in the nearby hills and forests.

Nightfever is another highlight of that time. It is a movement born during World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne. Its focus is an open church night with adoration and prayerful music with candles being lit by those that enter the church, a candle for a prayer. There was also the possibility of confession. The group organizing it goes out onto the streets to invite passersby in. I was part of the organizing team and had many faith-filled, interesting conversations with the many people that came in and lit a candle, some staying for much longer than planned, in the candlelit church filled with music and God's presence.

A moment I remember clearly, a moment I cherish, was one night after Nightfever. It was at that point 1 am and I had not cycled over in the afternoon so was facing a good 20-minute walk home in the dark and cold night. I spoke to one of the girls who was there with her mother and had a car. I asked if she had space for a 'foreigner' in her car. I was being silly at that late hour, jokingly saying foreigner rather than simply saying it was for me. She said sure and asked who the foreigner was and so I pointed at myself. She turned to me and said "du bist keine Auslanderin, du bist eine von uns"- (You are not a foreigner, you are one of us). I had of course not suddenly become German, rather I was one of them because we all shared the same faith, lived this life together in the same family of faith. It made me think of that bible passage from John 13:35: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one for another."