From red / dpa / lsw December 29, 2020 – 4:09 pm
Mercy should be a headline “that connects everything we do,” says the Württemberg regional bishop Frank Otfried July. (Archive image)
Photo: Lichtgut / Julian Rettig
The occasion for the proclamation of mercy is the biblical annual motto for 2021: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
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From red / dpa / lsw
December 29th, 2020 – 4:09 pm
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Karlsruhe / Stuttgart – The Protestant state bishops from Baden and Württemberg have called for mercy for the new year. The occasion is the biblical annual motto for 2021: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
“Mercy happens in the here and now”, says the Württemberg regional bishop Frank Otfried July in a New Year’s devotion, which will be available from January 1st on the homepage of the regional church. That means, for example, “Let yourself be stopped in your own plans, take heart, be a fellow human being for others”. Mercy should be a headline “that connects everything we do,” says July in the 15-minute video. “The good news for this New Year is that everyone can begin with mercy, here and now.”
God’s mercy give courage
His colleague from Baden, Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh, said in a statement on Tuesday that life succeeds “when people know they are worn and give each other gifts without asking what they are getting in return”. God’s mercy encourages “not to isolate yourself, but to approach others and, in conflicts, to look for ways that lead us together into the future”. For politics, this means, for example, “looking for sustainable solutions and advocating for social and ecological justice and human rights”. A video with the message is to be published this Wednesday on the website of the Baden regional church.
The Evangelical Church in Württemberg had around 1.96 million members at the end of 2019 (2018: 1.99 million). Around 1.12 million Protestants lived in Baden (2018: 1.14 million). The number of Catholics in the entire Southwest is around half a million higher at 3.58 million (2018: 3.64 million). New Year’s messages from the Catholic Bishops Gebhard Fürst from Rottenburg-Stuttgart and Stefan Burger from Freiburg were initially not available.
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