Radio Vatikan: Father Bernd Hagenkord

Jesuit Father Bernd Hagenkord is Head of the German Programme at Vatican Radio . During Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Germany he'll be travelling with the Pope and writing a blog thoughout the visit .

In an interview with Veronica Scarisbrick he explores some of the themes connected to the Pope's first State visit to his homeland and expresses the idea that the highlights of this visit are the scheduled address to the Bundestag, the Lower House of the Federal Parliament in Berlin on the 22nd and the meeting on the 23rd in Erfurt with the EKD , an umbrella group of Protestant Churches in the very place where Martin Luther once lived and worked .

Father Hagenkord also fills us in on the Catholic Church in Germany. Explains some of its history within a divided nation prior to 1990, as well as focus on the Central Committee of German Catholics. A lay organization which goes back to the 19th century when Catholics had to battle with Bismarck, one which Hitler opposed and which today wields influence at a national level.

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