On the occasion of the reformation jubilee last year, the idea arose to organize a joint trip of the catholic parish st. Martin and the evangelical lutheran congregation st. To organize the journey of st. John from forchheim to rome. At the beginning of september, 37 participants with the two pastors pastor martin emge and pastor enno weidt took off by plane from munich for the one-week trip to the eternal city.
Rome is a central pilgrimage destination for catholic christians and at the same time for evangelical christians a journey in the footsteps of martin luther. Accompanied by a city guide, the participants learned interesting facts about ancient rome with a visit to the forum romanum, the colosseum and other important sites. A visit to the catacombs of sebastian led to the beginnings of christianity.
Papal audience
One of the highlights was the audience with the pope in st. Peter's square. A visit to peter's cathedral with the sistine chapel and the vatican museums was not to be missed. At a meeting in the ocumenical department, the participants learned about the current status of ocumenism from the catholic point of view.
The main churches of rome with impressive sculptures and paintings by michelangelo and bernini as well as by raffael and other important artists love to amaze the group. Joint services and devotions in various catholic churches were part of the pilgrimage. A further sign of ecumenism was a visit to the evangelical lutheran christian church, which has already been visited by three pontiffs. A trip to the albanian mountains and the summer residence of the pope, castel gandolfo, was another highlight of the trip. The visit to new spiritual communities, the focular movement, sant' egidio and the schonstatt movement provided information about the goals of the communities, how christian faith and life are shaped in everyday life. After a week full of impressions and experiences, some disillusionment about the different beliefs and ways of thinking, the trip was coming to an end.
The trip has strengthened the foundation of faith through extensive information, the lively exchange among each other and the common prayer. The trusting relationship in the pilgrim group was encouraging. Although the differences in the denominations became clear, the premiere of the ecumenical pilgrimage to rome in forchheim can certainly be described as a success.