Fasting sermon by Sister Nathalie: Experience hope in the Speyer Cathedral!
Fasting sermon by Sister Nathalie: Experience hope in the Speyer Cathedral!
On Thursday, April 10, 2025, Sister Nathalie Becquart will hold a fasting sermon in Speyer Cathedral, which begins at 7:30 p.m. This sermon forms the end of this year's series, which is under the motto "Hope". Sister Nathalie, French theologian and member of the La Xavière religious institute, was chosen by Forbes among the 50 most powerful women in the world last year. She is also the first woman who has received full voting rights in the world synod, which underlines her significant role within the Catholic Church.
The fasting sermon refers to the Bible text Hebrew 6: 13-20, whereby verse 19 in particular is emphasized: "We consider this hope as a safe and firm anchor for the soul." At the center of the sermon is the image of the anchor of hope, a picture that Bishop Dr. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann and the Domkapitel Speyer viewed the central thoughts of their fasting sermons in order to make a contemporary contribution to the Christian message. The liturgical direction of the prayer is made by cathedral dean Dr. Christoph Kohl took over, while cathedral organist Markus Eichenlaub takes over the musical design.
Tradition of Fasting Sermons
Fasting sermons have a long tradition in the Catholic Church, which goes back to the 5th century. They originally served to prepare baptismal competitions for baptism on Easter night. Today they aim to intensify and support the faith of the listeners to align their lives on the gospel. These special services are usually longer than ordinary Sunday sermons and are often held by well -known pulpit speakers.The Speyer Cathedral will not only offer the fasting sermon on site, but will also broadcast live on the social media channels of the diocese and the cathedral. This ensures that a broader audience is reached and the message of hope can be widespread. As part of the series, the former Federal President Horst Köhler also kept a fasting sermon in which he directed an urgent call to termination of the war against Ukraine.
Sister Nathalie's commitment
Sister Nathalie Becquart, who was appointed to the Secretary of General in the World Synod General Secretariat on February 6, 2021, has intensively dealt with the topics of youth and synodality in her career. She was a national director of the evangelization of youth in France and has completed basic studies in various areas such as management, philosophy, theology and sociology at several institutions in Paris. Her comprehensive training and its commitment in the church make you an outstanding voice in current discussions about the role of women in the Catholic Church.
In recent years, the topic of women in the church has increasingly focused on, especially as part of the world synod. This can also be seen in a special issue of the Herder publishing house, which was published in autumn 2023 and combines contributions to the role of women in the Catholic Church from different countries. The discussions are against the background of a global analysis of the situation of women and women's offices, a topic that is also to be discussed at the upcoming synod in autumn.
The diocese of Speyer, one of the oldest dioceses in Germany with 436,850 Catholics, has set itself the goal of affording its part in the contemporary proclamation of the gospel and strengthening the voice of women and sister Nathalie in the church and society. So your fasting sermon will certainly not only appeal to a religious, but also a social dimension.
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