Bishop appeals to German youth to reject violence

The Bishop of Hamburg, Maria Jepsen, has appealed to Germany’s youth to stand against violence and hate.

Bishop Jepsen said young people should seek “the love of God and neighbour [and] love for oneself and strangers” and reject war, killing sprees and the language of violence.

Bishop Jepsen was speaking at the installation of the new youth pastor for the northern region, Tilman Lautzas.

“We need the courage to stand up for our beliefs and to be attentive to those who feel weak and rejected,” said the bishop before a gathering of young people from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

The bishop encouraged the youth with the prophesy in the book of Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”

Youth work in Germany has a special role to play in this aspect, she added.

“With words and deeds, Bible assignments and free time, with songs and meetings, and with God’s help, you can live out Christian beliefs,” she told the young audience.

The bishop’s address came just days after 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer shot dead 15 people, including nine secondary school students, in the small southern German town of Winnenden last week.

The first funeral of a victim of the massacre was held over the weekend.

"We can't comprehend the act that brought death upon her," a Roman Catholic priest was quoted by the BBC as saying at the funeral service in Winnenden.

"You are young and are allowed to live on," he told the surviving classmates who were among the mourners.

"I wish that some day, joy will return to your lives."

Police investigating the murders have paid tribute to the “selfless courage” of the three young teachers killed in the massacre whilst trying to block Tim from entering the classrooms.

The rampage has prompted calls for stricter gun controls from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.