Fr Goldkuhle visits Rome

The Vatican’s dicastery for promoting integral human development (“Dicasterium ad Integram Humanam Progressionem fovendam”) invited to join the World seminar of catholic civil aviation chaplains and members of the airport chaplaincy at the service of integral human development” from June, 9th to June 13th 2019 at the Villa Aurelia in Rome.

Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson and his secretary Msgr. Segundo Tejado Muñoz lead through the seminar. Fr. Heinz Goldkuhle and his volunteer team member Ms. Adelheid Ewald took part in the conference on behalf of the air chaplaincy in Frankfurt.

In various working groups, more than 70 participants from all over the world – from Hongkong and Warsaw to Atlanta, from Frankfurt and Milan to Seoul, from Lagos and Nairobi to London – exchanged their experiences and focused on pastoral and social issues of different parts of pastoral care for passengers, staff, pilgrim groups, stranded and needy humans.

Right at the beginning, on June 10th, the international group was offered the opportunity to join a private audience with Pope Francis. In his conversation with Fr. Goldkuhle – which was held in German – they talked about his time at the University of the Jesuits “St. Georgen” in Frankfurt where Fr. Goldkuhle studied, and the Pope asked him to greet the Jesuits in Frankfurt as well as the Pallottines in Germany.

The next international conference of air chaplains is going to take place in Melbourne, Australia in October 2019, and it is then going to be an ecumenical one, with many different Christian denominations to join in under the roof of the IACAC (International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains). The air chaplains are very much looking forward to an exiting meeting with active colleagues from all over the world, Fr. Peter Goldkkuhle states.

Fr. Goldkuhle spent some time at the welcoming Pallottine Generalate afterwards. During that time, on June 17th, precisely, he took the opportunity to meet up with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin and had some conversations with him. This contributed to a deep friendship between the two of them which had deepened within the last three years at various meetings at Frankfurt airport.

Text / Images: Pater Heinz Goldkuhle