{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"News from EWTN Norway","title":"German president laments Church’s diminished role at ‘Catholics Day’","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":271,"description":"German president laments Church’s diminished role at ‘Catholics Day’By AC Wimmerphoto Credit: Filip Singer - Pool/Getty ImagesAmid an exodus from Catholicism and ongoing struggles over the controversial German Synodal Way, both Pope Francis and the German president addressed participants at a national Catholic event underway in Germany this week.Speaking at the opening of the “Katholikentag” in the central German town of Erfurt on Wednesday, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier decried the Church’s diminishing role and standing in German society.The German president called for a self-critical debate about countering indifference to religion and growing alienation from institutions: “Are the churches failing to inspire us? Is their message too quiet, too neutral, too nondescript?”Steinmeier, a Protestant, noted that “committed Catholics [are] among the most sturdy pillars of our democratic society rooted in freedom.” Therefore, it was all the more regrettable “that the churches are seeing people’s support and trust fall away on such a scale.”“The shift is certainly dramatic,” the German president said, pointing to “the horrendous reality of massive abuse and the long history of cover-ups” in the Church as one cause of the decline.In the face of this development, Steinmeier challenged Christians to ask themselves if “those who are really searching receive convincing answers, do they receive spiritual guidance, are they received with empathy in our groups, congregations, and initiatives?”Pope Francis calls for ‘genuine reorientation’In his message to the “Katholikentag,” Pope Francis emphasized the event’s motto: “The future belongs to the man of peace,” a reference to Psalm 37.The Holy Father called for a “genuine reorientation” toward God and highlighted the interconnectedness of various societal crises.“The many moral, social, economic, and political crises we are experiencing are all interconnected. Care for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/LnfHlqc795vsiJtROdA1682qZL4lcGYRFoVUlk5TYTA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hYjU2/NWE4ZmY2OTg0NTE5/ZGQ3MTAxMzgwZjAx/MTQzNC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}