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I would like to welcome you all very warmly to the German Bundestag, to which we have, not for the first time, invited an eminent guest. Yet this is the first time in history that a Pope has spoken to an elected German parliament. And seldom has a speech in this House, even before its delivery, attracted so much attention and interest – not only in Germany, but also far beyond.
Holy Father, I would like to welcome you very warmly to Germany, your home country, and particularly to the German Bundestag!
During the brief tenure of the last Pope from the German lands, Germany as a nation-state had not yet been born – what existed was the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation", an Empire shaped by shifting dynasties, an Empire which was as much – or as little – Roman as it was German, which was by no means a nation and anything but holy. Germany is a country which was strongly moulded by religion and religious wars for many centuries, including the Kulturkampf at the time of the foundation of the German Reich. A country whose Christian traditions of faith also influenced the constitution we have today and had a central impact on the work of the fathers and mothers of the constitution, who were, as the Preamble says, "Conscious of their responsibility before God and man".
Yet the understanding which we have today of basic rights – of the inviolability of human dignity, and civil liberties – was also shaped by historical experiences and achievements, particularly the Enlightenment, which we have to thank not only for the challenge of faith by reason, but also for the separation of Church and State, one of the indispensable elements of progress achieved by our civilisation.
I am fond of recalling the highly significant dialogue between Cardinal Ratzinger, at the time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Jürgen Habermas. Together, they described and acknowledged faith and reason as "the two great cultures of the West".
Faith and reason. In the era of globalisation, in a world shaken by war and crises, many people seek support and guidance. Upholding ethical principles, unswayed by markets and powers, and cultivating common values and beliefs is a major challenge, particularly for modern societies, which seek to avoid endangering their internal cohesion.
Germany is the country of the Reformation, which began here almost 500 years ago – with manifold consequences for the Church, State and Society.
Many people in Germany, not only committed Catholics and Protestants, are vexed by the continuing division of the Churches, in part because they have sincere doubts about whether the inter-confessional differences, whilst they do undoubtedly exist, justify maintaining this division. And, during the pontificate of a German Pope