Munich/Bamberg (dpa/lby) - According to Cardinal Reinhard Marx from Munich, the Christian message of Pentecost is incompatible "with nationalism, with hatred of others, with exclusion and oppression".
A "Pentecostal renewed church" will become a sign of hope in a world that is losing orientation and stability, which is moving more and more towards selfishness, imperialism, fantasies of conquest and lack of freedom, said the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, according to a statement on Whitsunday in Munich's Liebfrauendom.
In view of all the transformations and upheavals that the church is also experiencing, "we should trust the Pentecostal spirit". In accordance with this spirit, "every trace of conflict, of demarcation, of estate societies" must also be overcome within the church.
In Bamberg, Archbishop Ludwig Schick called on the faithful to pray to the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit wants to sanctify life, heal it and keep it healthy in every respect," he said in his Pentecost sermon. "It is for this Holy Spirit that we ask in our time, which is visited by so much calamity."
At Pentecost, Christianity recalls the biblical story according to which the despondent disciples were sent the Holy Spirit - and from then on they were able to speak in foreign languages and courageously talk about Jesus and his deeds. The Acts of the Apostles says that the Spirit of God descended upon them like a storm of fire.
