This year's Misereor Lenten campaign was opened with a solemn service in the parish church of St Anthony in Essen Frohnhausen on Sunday. The Catholic aid organisation for development cooperation is focusing on the precarious situation of Tamils in the southern highlands of Sri Lanka. Under the motto "To dignity. Ready. Go!", all interested parties are invited to join Misereor's project partners in campaigning for the preservation of human dignity and a more bearable life for the disadvantaged population living in the vicinity of tea plantations on the island in the Indian Ocean.

In his sermon during the service, which was broadcast live on ARD television, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen encouraged the faithful to stand up for human rights and the dignity of each and every individual in the power of God and the Holy Spirit. "Those who follow this spirit do not belong to the powerful of this world, not to those who promise a golden age, but to those who know that we live in the age of the poor, the hungry, the suffering, the war-torn and tortured and serve God in them," said the bishop. Those who follow this spirit will pray, will serve peace and the good in people in a very practical, social and ecological way, and will stand up for the dignity that every person has from God. "Those who follow this spirit are among those who understand everyday life as a service and mission to people."

Making our hearts wide

Overbeck emphasised: "I invite you all, especially now at the beginning of Lent: let us live according to this spirit! This will open our hearts to Jesus' word and sacrament, to his actions in the world, to his silent touching of our hearts, to love, solidarity and justice. And another thing: this spirit blows wherever it wants. We can find it, perhaps where we do not expect it. That is why we must free ourselves from entrenched, rigid ways of thinking, from hardening and from the tendency to close ourselves off and isolate ourselves, free ourselves from an undue absolutisation of belonging to a particular group or community."

Thanks to Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC

Misereor Managing Director Andreas Frick combined the official opening of the Lenten campaign with thanks to the employees of the partner organisation Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC who had travelled from Sri Lanka: "Living in dignity is still not a matter of course today! I am impressed by your commitment and that of your colleagues to work for a fairer world, as well as the courage and strength of the people you work with."

As part of the Lent campaign, many imaginative fundraising campaigns and information events will take place throughout Germany from Ash Wednesday to Easter. On the fifth Sunday of Lent, donations for Misereor's work in 83 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will be collected in all Catholic parishes throughout Germany.