Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Berlin last Thursday amid Benedict XVI's first official state visit to his native land since he became Pope in 2005. Protestors demonstrated against the Roman Catholic Church views on subjects such as gay rights, the role of women in the church and scandals of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, a particularly controversial topic in Germany after a hundred of previously unreported cases of sexual abuse of children by priests were revealed last year. Benedict XVI, who was welcomed by chancellor Angela Markel and President Christian Wulff on his arrival at the airport, was also critized for his address before the German Parliament, which many of its members did not attend as a sign of protest because they considered it to violate the separation of church and state. Despite the demonstrations, more than 60,000 followers from all over the country attended the mass that the Pope celebrated in the Olympic Stadium of Berlin on Thursday night.
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The fact that so many people decide to take over the streets and protest the visit of a powerful personality should be seen as something positive because demonstrating is the product of a free society. Whoever that personality may be-a politician, a spiritual leader, an important businessman-, protest within the limits of tolerance and respect is always an enriching experience for any democratic country because people have the chance to speak out and say what they are not happy about, and to try to understand one another peacefully. Taking into consideration the recent scandals of the Catholic Church and the context of strong secularisation that Europe has experienced in the last decades, it is not too difficult to imagine why so many people in Germany decided to stand in the streets and demonstrate against what they consider is wrong.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/world/europe/a-papal-homecoming-to-a-combative-germany.html?scp=4&sq=GERMANY&st=cse
I completely agree with you Diego. People have the right to protest if they think something is wrong. I honestly think state and church should be separated and the visit of the Pope to the German Parliament is unnecessary.
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