Hopes for harmony in Dresden

The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has called for dialogue and cooperation in the city that has seen thousands take to the streets each week to protest against the “Islamisation” of the West.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller made the appeal at Dresden’s Opera Ball on 30 January. He spoke in praise of Senegal’s President, Macky Sall, who received an award for achievements in the field of peaceful cooperation. Mr Sall’s commitment to democracy and interreligious dialogue in  Senegal, which is 90 per cent Muslim, had become a shining example of how people of different origins could live together in peace, Cardinal Müller said.

“I hope that a new period of dialogue and cooperation will now emerge from Dresden,” Cardinal Müller continued, indirectly referring to weekly marches for and against Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Christian West). Bishop Heiner Koch of Dresden told KNA on 2 February that even if the Pegida movement had passed its zenith, “the worries, fears and wounds are still here”.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell received the Order of St George at the ball for her work in the Fashion for Relief initiative. She arrived by private jet and made a brief appearance.