Discovering God where He seems to have disappeared

The Focolare Movement in Germany, together with other Catholic organisations, organised an online conference on the search for God in a world where He seems increasingly absent. This  contributed also to the Catholic Church’s synodal process in Germany.

“God disappears – and maybe, could this be necessary? God disappears – is it He perhaps who wants it this way?” These were the provocative questions  that guided the programme of an online conference that was held in Germany on  February 26-27.  It  was organized  by the Focolare Movement in Germany together with  the “Herder-Korrespondenz”, a monthly Catholic magazine, and the Catholic Academy of the  Dresden-Meissen Diocese in the former GDR.  It was meant to address one of the most urgent questions many Christians ask today: “What do we have to do and how do we have to move in a world where God seems to be no longer present?”

350 participants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries were ready to discuss in depth the causes of an ever-increasing absence of God in society and in the lives of individuals. As Heinrich Timmerevers, the Bishop of Dresden  said  in his opening speech, they were  even ready to ask the shocking question, “Is it perhaps the Church itself that is driving people away from God because of the crisis caused by abuse?”

In a  message sent to the participants, Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement  said  that the theme of God’s absence  touches  the core of the Movement’s spirituality, that springs from the figure of Jesus crucified and forsaken  by men and God, “the hardest  moment for Jesus and at the same time the most divine, the key to contribute towards fraternity wherever  it is lacking […] and to reach out to those who suffer most because of this darkness”.

During these two days, there were moments of critical and stimulating  reflection on all that motivates a firm faith in God, despite a growing tendency towards secularism, and also on new forms of interest – especially in young people – in something transcendent  that is passed on through authentic stories, experiences of deep attractiveness and a curiosity    to explore new reflections  on the meaning of life. During this conference, the  awareness that  Churches are often no longer able to meet the new religious needs of today’s men and women, was also present.

The talk delivered by the German theologian Julia Knop was very strong; it was almost shocking. She started from the debate on the abuse of power and sexual violence by clerics and consecrated persons, and then  continued to show that an erosion of trust in the Church is also being felt among its most faithful members. The professor of dogmatics claimed that  the Church’s crisis  is closely linked to the faith crisis.

Stefan Tobler, the Reformed theologian stated that the  absence of God could  also prove to be an opportunity. While presenting  traces of the mysticism in Madeleine Delbrêl, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Chiara Lubich, he pointed out that the experience of  God that vanishes could  become precisely the place where God reveals himself. “God is found precisely where he seems furthest away. It is therefore not a question of bringing him to the world, but of discovering him in the world”.

Joachim Schwind