Flying the flag

The football World Cup in Germany has ended, but for Germans the event will symbolise a turning point for how the nation sees itself.

For four weeks, the black, red and gold of the German flag was everywhere throughout the country. The show of patriotism, which others might in the past have mistaken for nationalistic chauvinism, marks a new era for a country whose history in the first half of the 20th century has cast a shadow over the national psyche for six decades.

The 2006 World Cup was not the first time Germany hosted the world in a high-profile sporting event. However, unlike the 1972 Olympics, the 1974 World Cup, or 1988 football European Championship, this years event was marked by an obvious pride which Germans had in their country, a pride that grew with the unexpected flair and success of their team (who reached the semi-finals) and the evidence that Germany was excelling at hosting the event.

Hosting the World Cup has given expression to a new German consciousness. Where Germans used to be virtually apologetic for being German (due to the countrys past) they seem to have conquered their reluctance to celebrate being German one borne of a fear being seen as reviving the kind of nationalism that contributed to two world wars.

Internationally, this new, graceful national awareness has won Germans much respect among countries that take such enthusiasm for granted. Germany now is regarded not as a threat to peace, but as a country like any other, and regards itself as such.

In as much as one can be proud of belonging to a nation, the Germans have, for the first time since World War II, shown collective pride in their country.

In this, Germanys experience has some lessons for us as Catholics.

Like Germans over the past 60 years, many Catholics are compunctious about being Catholic. Depending on their audience, some will qualify their acknowledgment of being Catholic by listing teachings they disagree with, or aspects of the Churchs history (ancient and modern) they find embarrassing.

Indeed, it is not easy being a Catholic in a society where fundamental Church teachings find little resonance in the law, where an entire institution is arbitrarily belittled on account of the failings of a few, and where little effort is being made to understand the nature of the Church. This becomes even more difficult when leaders in the Church make public pronouncements with which some cannot agree.

Being Catholic, however, goes far beyond the debates, disunity and public perceptions. As Catholics we are united as disciples of Christ the Redeemer on our life-long pilgrimage to God. This is the illuminating core of our Catholicism.

Catholics should not to be embarrassed to acknowledge their Church, warts and all.

Like the flag-waving citizens of World Cup hosts Germany, we must be openly and proudly Catholics, though not in the triumphalistic manner of a bygone age. Like today s Germans, we must acknowledge that the Churchs history is not without blemishes, nor the present without problems.

And like todays Germans, we must wave our Churchs banners not in a spirit of chauvinistic hubris, but as an expression of our joy at being Catholics.