Germany's Churches Filled on Christmas Day

Churches in Germany witnessed an unprecedented turnout at services and Christmas mass all over the country, as people braved freezing temperatures to listen to the traditional Christmas sermons.

The larger churches in the capital Berlin reported large numbers of people who turned up for midnight mass, some of whom had to be sent away to other services because of lack of space.

The main message of both the protestant and catholic churches was of peace with special emphasis on the looming conflict in Iraq. Many called on the people to mobilize against war and express solidarity with the world’s poor.

"We must stand up against war," the Council Chairman of the Protestant Church (EKD), Manfred Koch said. Cardinal Friedrich Wetter from Munich said that in a war, both sides are the losers.

Bishof Wolfgang Huber from Berlin said that a war in Iraq must be avoided at any cost, but also said that those who collect weapons should also be stopped. "One must be scared of the weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein’s hands, but also equally of the war," he said during a service in the Marienkirche in Berlin.

Huber also said that the death of 7 German soldiers in Kabul shows how great the price for peace can cost.

Cardinal Karl Lehmann also urged a return to Christian values during a mass in the Mainz cathedral. "We humans have often lost real empathy with our fellow beings, even though we often speak of love," he said.

"Our normal sensibilities force us to place ourselves in the center. Those who want to find Christ, must make a change from within and go in the opposite direction," said Cardinal Joachim Meisner from Cologne as he urged people to rethink and reflect in the face of hatred and war.

Several clergy members also criticized the increasing complaints about Germany’s current financial state. Bishop Franz Kamphaus from Limbach said that there’s a negative delight in complaining about everything in Germany.

"We Germans have no reason for general pessimism," the Hamburg Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke said. In the face of Germany’s precarious financial situation and the uncertain world situation, the Bishop pointed towards the Christmas message, "All news that scares us or irritates us, is nothing against this one sentence that God gave us peace through the birth of Jesus," he said.

The war in Iraq also dominated Pope John Paul II’s Christmas day message. Without mentioning Iraq by name, the Pope told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that with everyone’s efforts, "the ominous smoldering of a conflict" could be extinguished.