In the centre of Berlin - like an island - stands the tower of a Lutheran church, all that remains after it was hit by a bomb during the Second World War. Right next to it is the new, modern church, with its octagonal design, windowless, but with walls made almost entirely of blue/indigo-coloured glass. Inside there is an atmosphere of great peace and recollection. The area around the altar is dominated by a huge golden Risen Christ with arms open wide, which makes it look like a crucifix.

As the ceremony began the church was filled to overflowing with more than 1,000 people, belonging to 26 different Churches. In his welcoming address, Cardinal Sterzinsky started by talking about the mission of Chiara and the Focolare Movement. He sees in it the charismatic aspect of the Church, but, he said, Chiara had always waited "until it had been submitted to the ecclesial ministry for verification and approval." Then he described how he sees the spirit of the Movement as truly evangelical. He expressed his hope in this ecumenical spirituality - a hope that was the reason for Chiara’s invitation here by the Ecumenical Council of the city.

After a prayer read by Mrs Sylvia von Kekulé, pastor of the church, there was a reading from the First Letter of John. Then Martin Kruse, the retired Lutheran Bishop of Berlin and a long-time friend of the Focolare Movement, gave an address. He spoke of his first meeting with the Movement, through Klaus Hemmerle, Bishop of Aachen, and of how he was impressed by the immediacy with which the Word of God was welcomed and lived and the fruits experienced. He continued: "Today, all the Churches need to re-learn the alphabet of the Gospel".

Then Chiara spoke, underneath the great Crucifix-Risen Christ. She gave a brief outline of society today: materialist, hedonist, more and more lacking in values. She said that while there is an increasing need for dialogue with people of other religions who are often our fellow citizens, full communion between Christians still seems a long way off. The remedy? There is one. Chiara has no doubt of this: Christians, both individually and as churches, need to rediscover God as Love and to put him in the first place.

Just as she had done at Aachen and Muenster, in Berlin too Chiara spoke about the "art of loving". With great strength and conviction she challenged everyone, personally. But unlike on the previous occasions, this time she challenged the churches as well. For entire communities too, she said, it was valid: to be the first to love; to see in Jesus who, on the cross for us, even experienced the abandonment of the Father, the greatest measure of love. At various times during her talk she encouraged those present: "Try it! Try it right away, now, here!" Not content with a speech, she wanted to provoke a response which involves living.
She spoke of the dialogue of the people, of the one people of God, of the experience lived in London in November 1996. There, the presence of the Risen Lord amongst Catholics, Anglicans and members of other churches united by mutual love made her feel that nothing and no one could divide us if He was in our midst. Then, putting her script aside, she said: "Why don’t we do the same here, right now? This afternoon we came here as different churches. We should leave as the one Christian people." And it is this appeal which touched people’s hearts, which moved them and provoked spontaneous and prolonged applause.

There then followed a reception in a large hall next to the church. Chiara spoke of her special love for Germany, a country marked by a double cross: political and religious division, though the former had now been largely resolved. Then she communicated a wish: "The next time I come to Germany, I would like to see a big step forward with regard to the second cross, the division between the Churches". It was a crowning moment which seemed to exceed the talk in the church.

But then there was another finale: before leaving the hall, Chiara went back to the microphone. "We need a visible sign of this commitment" she said, "So why don’t we ask the two bishops present here (Sterzinsky and Kruse) to show it right here, now in front of us all?" The hall erupted into rapturous applause. Their handshake signified the commitment of building this one people of God. The Baptist pastor, Dietmar Luetz, also joined in. Without doubt, a new chapter has been opened.

(19-02-2001)