Bishop Kohlgraf on the future of the parishes in the diocese of Mainz

Bishop Kohlgraf on the future of the parishes in the diocese of Mainz

On January 19, 2025, the first founding service of the year took place in Bingen under the direction of Bishop Kohlgraf. In this event, the bishop emphasized the central role of the parishes as a visible form of expression of the church. Parishes not only act as a spiritual homeland, they also offer a stable place of the home and promote the community among the believers. The bishop wishes that the newly founded parish in Bingen will become such a place of encounter that enables the diversity and participation of all people, regardless of their age. Volunteering is particularly promoted here, which is an important aspect in the accompaniment of all generations in the community.

The importance of these parishes is underlined by the multitude of important events that take place there. Whether baptisms, sacraments, marriages or the memory of deceased - the parish churches have been a place of faith and spirituality for generations. Bishop Kohlgraf emphasizes that the new parish should not only exist, but must be actively designed in order to do justice to these tasks. In order to optimally lead the parish, Markus Lerchl is used as a senior pastor, while pastoral officer David Haub takes over the coordination and Knut Wissenbach holds the administrative management.

pastoral path and parish foundations

In the course of the pastoral path, which serves to restructure church life in the diocese of Mainz, a total of nine other parishes from existing pastoral rooms will be founded on January 1, 2025. These changes are part of a continuous development within the Catholic Church, which deals with the challenges of today and wants to counter people in their respective life situation. The concept of the pastoral path aims to strengthen the Protestant broadcast of the church in society and ensure that it is perceived as a reliable partner and contact person.

In another context, liberation theology emphasizes the need to actively work for the poor. This theology, which was created in Latin America, interprets biblical traditions as the basis for social criticism and focuses on material poverty. Pope Francis in particular emphasizes the "option for the poor" and finds that the belief of all Christians is influenced by this divine preference. The option for the poor is not to be understood as an additional social policy commitment, but as a fundamental principle of church action, which specifically celebrates in everyday life and liturgical celebrations such as the sacrament and Eucharistie Pastoraler Weg and liberation theology .

The liberation theology, which has its origin in the 1960s and 1970s, suggests that poverty is understood as a form of "structural sin" and analyzes the causes of this poverty in the social and economic injustices of society. Active accompaniment in the fighting of human rights is therefore an essential requirement of this theology, which is not only limited to Latin America, but is also becoming more important worldwide.