In early October, Kolping representatives for international partnership work (BIPs) met on site in Cologne at the Deutz youth hostel and online. It was an interesting exchange of ideas and opinions between volunteers and the meeting turned out to be a great success despite the difficult times of the pandemic:
The report of participants underlined the large variety of partnership work in the subdivisions of the Kolping Society. General Praeses Ottmar Dillenburg thanked all BIPs for their dedicated work.
All participants listened eagerly to the report of desk officer Katharina Hager about the situation in Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica and the work of Kolping organizations in those countries. Based on a questionnaire produced by the Association of One World Regional Networks in Germany, participants assessed their partnership work. Educational materials were available to try them out on site.
There was also a strong interest in the presentation of Claudia Zeisel on the role of religion in development cooperation and the presentation of the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development program where KOLPING INTERNATIONAL is a member.
All participants were very pleased with the great success of the Corona Fund which we also owe to the BIPs’ excellent work. Celebrating mass in the Minorite Church was a deeply moving experience for many participants.
