As of: February 15, 2024, 5:31 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
Fulda Bishop Michael Gerber speaks into a video camera and a microphone.
His new pastoral word for this year's Lent will be broadcast as a video on various channels.
© Leon Duvernell/Diocese of Fulda/dpa
The Fulda bishop surprises with a modern approach: his Lenten message is not only read out, but also presented as a video.
Fulda - Bishop Michael Gerber, senior shepherd of the Diocese of Fulda, is once again opting for an unconventional approach to spreading his Lenten message this year.
In addition to the traditional reading in church services, his pastoral word is now also presented in the form of a seven-minute video.
Fulda Bishop uses drones and craft scenes for Lent appeal
This work will be available on the diocese's website and on YouTube starting Sunday (February 19).
In the video, Gerber addresses the question of how the Christian faith can support people amid the current tensions in the world and in their personal environment.
The deputy chairman of the German Bishops' Conference is not only content with reading out the text of his pastoral word.
The video also shows footage from theaters of war as well as scenes from the winemaking trade, supplemented by drone footage of sunny vineyards.
Gerber uses the metaphor of vine grafting to show how wounds can heal and how one can emerge stronger from crises.
According to the diocese, the filming took place over a whole day.
The film was shot in an old, cold cellar under the cathedral museum, which served as a backdrop about a month ago.
The bishop, who himself comes from Oberkirch in der Ortenau, a renowned wine-growing region in Baden, has a close connection to viticulture.
His parents' house is directly opposite a vineyard, and he still regularly takes part in the grape harvest in Oberkirch.
“If my schedule allows me another day off in September, then I would be happy to help with the grape harvest in my hometown of Central Baden,” Gerber told the German Press Agency.
“After the work in the vineyard is done, we drive to the wine cellar on the tractor with the harvested grapes.
The aroma of the mash fermenting there tastes like home to me.” The drone footage of the vineyards included in the video comes from Oberkirch, as do the vines with the special grafting cut.
My news
“Never take the night train again”: Woman robbed on the way from Italy to Austria read
1 hour ago
“Wanted criminal”: FDP politician from Hesse is now on Putin’s wanted list read
Trouble over rent for Ukraine refugees – landlord pissed off
Return to Germany: Jürgen Klopp is building a new house reading here
Sudden attack on strange child: woman strangles three-month-old baby reading
Germany's skyscrapers: There is only one skyscraper not in Hessenlesen
Video: Lent study: People in Germany want to do without this
This is Gerber's third video pastoral and, according to the diocese, it is the most ambitious project to date in terms of images and content.
The diocese is not aware of any comparable video projects from other German dioceses.
However, the aim is not to be a pioneer or to do anything extraordinary.
“For us, the medium of film is another opportunity for proclamation, which we use accordingly,” explained a spokesman.
The previous two videos, which show Gerber in the crypt of St. Michael's Church and building a yurt together with scouts, were largely received positively.
However, they have also occasionally caused irritated reactions.
Outside the diocese of Fulda, the bishop is often asked about these films.
Gerber recently published a new book called “In the Depths of the Desert”.
(dpa, ah)