Photo: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images Catholic bishops from the European Union marked 30 years since the breaching of the Berlin Wall with tributes to those who worked for peaceful change, as well as warnings against resurgent “ideologies behind the building of walls”.
“The fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most important events in European history of the last decades, a moment full of emotion,” the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, or COMECE, said.
“But not all the expectations that the fall of the wall brought forth have been fulfilled. It is also true that the ideologies behind building the wall have not fully disappeared in Europe and are still present today in different forms.”
The statement said the Berlin Wall had symbolised “the ideological division of Europe and the whole world”, adding that its breaching during mass protests on November 9, 1989, had “opened the way for regaining freedom” after communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe.
“Having been separated by a concrete wall for more than 28 years, people – relatives, friends and neighbours – living in the same city were able to meet each other, celebrate and express their joy and hopes. From this moment the world looked different,” said the document, signed by representatives of 26 bishops’ conferences.
“We acknowledge the process of healing and reconciliation is delicate and difficult. Even today, for some of the victims of the oppressive regimes of the past, this process is far from completed.”