Bishop thinks diversity not unity is a mark of the Church. Claims, "The patience of most young people is exhausted".

Youth Bishop looks back on World Youth Day

Wübbe: The patience of most young people is exhausted

Many young people want reforms in the Church, says Youth Bishop Johannes Wübbe in an interview with katholisch.de at the end of World Youth Day. He relies on diversity in the Church and mutual dialogue.

The World Youth Day in Lisbon is coming to an end. The chairman of the Youth Commission of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), Auxiliary Bishop and Diocesan Administrator Johannes Wübbe of Osnabrück, draws a positive conclusion. In the interview, however, he also talks about the desire for change in the Church and a polarisation also among the youth.

Question: Auxiliary Bishop, what kind of youth have you experienced in Lisbon in the past few days?

Wübbe: A youth that is very interested in life, also in faith. A youth that brings many questions, but that has also used these days to celebrate together - in many ways, at the music concerts and at the church services. And one that discusses the problems it sees among themselves and also discusses them controversially.

Question: At the beginning of the World Youth Day, you said that this event should consciously offer space for the questions and concerns of the youth - among other things, what the Church has to do so that they stay with it. What did you perceive with regard to this?

Wübbe: Of course, these are very different expectations, some of them far apart. When I think of the young people, there is of course one group that demands very strongly that everything related to the Synodal Way be brought forward and that changes be initiated in the Church as a result. But there is also another group that does not want that, because they say that the church would be destroyed by that.

Question: How much patience is there among the young people who want reforms?

Wübbe: Most of them have really run out of patience, I have to say that honestly. They say if you don't get your act together soon, we will have to think twice before we want to be part of this church after all.

Question: What message do you have for them?

Wübbe: I have told them these days that many of the bishops are doing their part to bring about change. And I hope that I can set something in motion so that the young people perceive: It is still worthwhile to shape life with and in the Church and, above all, to shape it with God.

Question: You have already mentioned that there is a certain polarisation among young people in the Church. How can a balance be achieved?

Wübbe: Pope Francis has often said these days that the Church is for everyone. I would like that to be a reality for everyone. We do not all have to agree 100 per cent on everything. But we are happy that we are a church with diverse views. We simply have to learn to talk to each other more, to take the individual seriously and to find ways that are shared by many.

Question: Has that been achieved in Lisbon, at least to a certain extent?

Wübbe: I have experienced this in some places, just as I do in Germany. Sometimes a discussion is over very quickly because the other side does not want to have another opinion explained to them. But I have also experienced that young people have come a second time and asked if they could talk to me longer about a topic. We then parted in such a way that we were able to listen and explain to each other well. If I really engage with the person I'm talking to, I can better anticipate why someone might have an attitude that is contrary to my own.

"It is about how church can provide a space for people to believe and live together there."

- Quote: Johannes Wübbe

Question: Let us take another look at Pope Francis' statement that the Church must be open to all. Can we draw any hope from this that some things in the Church will move after all?

Wübbe: First of all, I understand the statement to mean that the Pope wants the Church to be a home for many people because that is the message of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom of God. There are, of course, other statements by Pope Francis that do not give so much courage that there will be reforms very quickly. At the same time, I hope that at the World Synod in October, people will see that demands for reform are an issue worldwide, albeit in different forms, and that people will think about changing the Church for the sake of the people, so that they can be at home in it and live their faith. It is not about structures. It is about how church can provide a space so that people can believe and live there together.

Question: When you look back at the days here in Lisbon: What was special about this World Youth Day?

Wübbe: The question beforehand was how it would be after this long Corona break. But already during the "Days of Encounter" the week before, we experienced such great hospitality and such togetherness that this World Youth Day has continued the positive experiences of the previous ones. This World Youth Day has shown that the format is not "out", but very important for people to experience the universal Church and for their horizons to be opened in the truest sense of the word. That is why I also hope that we will succeed in inviting even more young people from Germany to the next World Youth Day.

Question: What can the young people who were here take with them for life in Germany?

Wübbe: I asked young people exactly that. They answered: firstly, that there are still many young people in the world who believe and are at home in the Church. That is not a matter of course in Germany and is therefore good. The second is that worship, especially through music, can be lively and helpful for life. The third thing is, I think, that they got to talk to many different nationalities and it became clear that everyone - especially in view of the wars in the world - stands together for peace.

Question: What do you personally take away from World Youth Day?

Wübbe: That it is worthwhile to shape the church and to do everything to make it diverse and inviting.

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