"I think we are just getting momentum for the future again, but we are turning back a bit, so to speak, into the tradition, so that we can give the full power of tradition into the future," Wilde said on Thursday in an interview with the Cologne portal "domradio.de".
When looking at the increasing number of adult baptisms in France in recent years, for example, "you can see that something is coming, and I am very happy about that. But I also experience this in Germany," Wilde stressed.
Often these people are not religiously socialized. "I feel with the younger ones that they feel that certain things have been withheld from them from tradition. They'd like to revive them, or at least know what was there."
Do not isolate each other
This development does not scare him, Wilde continued. "You just have to stay together. With the different orientations within the church, we must not isolate each other." Especially in the monastery, there is a good chance to solve conflicts together.
The monastic life is still promising, the abbot explained. Monasteries and spiritual centers gain in importance because the dioceses were in a great upheaval. Many people therefore do well to come to the monastery from time to time. "It is important that there are retreats where you can remember the essentials. I see a great opportunity for the monasteries these days.”
Wilde (60) had been appointed abbot of Maria Laach by the Vatican Dicastery of the Order at the beginning of October; on 15th. October. November he received the Abbot's Dediction through the Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann.
There had been years of leadership queues in the abbey. After a few months in office, Wilde draws a positive interim balance.
"From the beginning there was a great openness. There was also relief that a fresh start is now possible, and at the same time it was clear that we still have to sniff each other out."