Summer festival at the Mariendom: Archbishop Heße about peace and future questions

Summer festival at the Mariendom: Archbishop Heße about peace and future questions

Hamburg, Deutschland - On July 15, 2025, Archbishop Dr. Stefan Heße a summer meeting in the garden of the bishop's house on Mariendom, which was considered an important social event in Hamburg. Around 200 guests from various areas, including politics, business and social institutions, came to this festival. Hamburg's first mayor, Peter Tschentscher, took the opportunity to keep a greeting and emphasized the anchoring of the Archdiocese of Hamburg in the city. Tschentscher praised the over 200 social Catholic institutions in Hamburg, which are an expression of this deep rooting and take care of the community.

A central theme of the evening was the choice of Pope Leo XIV, who is known for his vision of an "unarmed and disarmed peace". In this context, Archbishop Heß quoted the greeting of the new Pope: "Peace is with all of you!" And connected this with May 8, the day on which the Second World War ended. Heße also addressed the current conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and other crisis regions and emphasized the urgency of Leo's appeal to build bridges and create encounters.

a bridge builder in the church

like Archdi piston Paderborn, Pope Leo XIV is the first American to take this role after he was Bischof in Peru. Archbishop Bentz emphasizes that Leo XIV follows a strong bridge construction approach and sees himself as a servant of unity. This approach is strengthened by his close connection to Pope Francis, who reflects his missionary and merciful perspective.

In his first speech as a Pope, Leo XIV put the closeness to suffering and a missionary church in the foreground. Bentz urges to support the new Pope with prayer, while in Paderborn the melancholy can be felt at the farewell of Pope Francis. The election was announced with festive ringing in the churches of the Archdiocese, and on the day of his inauguration, according to Bentz, all church life will be festive.

challenges of today's time

Archbishop Heße called the topics that shape the agenda of Pope Leo XIV: digitization, artificial intelligence, global migration, environmental crisis and social inequality. He describes these challenges as anthropological and spiritual tasks that the church and society will have to tackle in the coming years. Musically, the evening was framed by the Ensemble Lounge Jazz from Hamburg, which contributed to the sociable get -together and offered the guests a pleasant atmosphere.