“With Wrath and Tenderness at the Side of the Poor“ is the motto that was chosen for the 50th anniversary of MISEREOR, which we will be celebrating in 2008.

25 January: Congress
Our anniversary year will start with a development congress taking place on 25 January 2008 at the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Museum of Contemporary History of the Federal Republic of Germany), Bonn.

10 February: Official MISEREOR 2008 Lenten Campaign Launch, Soweto, South Africa
To mark our 50-year anniversary, the MISEREOR Lenten Campaign will be launched with a solemn Holy Mass to be held at Regina Mundi Church, Soweto. This church, which was the site of massive police violence against protesting students more than thirty years ago, reminds us strongly of what happened then in South Africa, and of MISEREOR’s commitment against apartheid. German TV will be broadcasting the solemn Holy Mass live on 10 February 2008.

Lenten Campaign launches in Germany
In Germany, the 2008 Lenten Campaign will be simultaneously launched through solemn Church Services celebrated in five cities with guests from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

MISEREOR in German parishes
Within the scope of the 2008 Lenten Campaign, MISEREOR staff will pay visits to interested German parishes, supporter groups and schools in order to talk about our work and experience ‘at the side of the poor’ in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Projects of the 50th MISEREOR Lenten Campaign
The whole Lenten Campaign will be marked by the 50th anniversary of MISEREOR. Three projects or programmes will exemplify and illustrate the motto of the Lenten Campaign “With Wrath and Tenderness at the Side of the Poor: Discover Christian Love”:

Ivory Coast will be our focus country representing the African continent. MISEREOR has been supporting INADES (African Institute for Economic and Social Development) since 1988. In rural areas of 10 African countries, INADES works together with farmers and supports them in their efforts to earn a living and bring about improvements in essential living conditions so as to reduce and eventually put an end to poverty, malnutrition, insufficient health care and sanitation.

The “Commission for Land Pastoral” (CPT) in Brazil will be our Latin American Lenten Campaign focus partner. MISEREOR’s priorities in Brazil are a more just distribution of income and property as well as the struggle for human rights. This is why MISEREOR accompanies the CPT and together with the CPT calls for a comprehensive Agrarian Reform, sustainable agriculture and effective protection of the human rights of the rural population.

In Indonesia, MISEREOR’s special attention is on the situation of the people living in slums and shanty towns around megacities like Jakarta. Their poverty must be reduced on a long-term basis and their fundamental rights protected. Since 1997 MISEREOR has been a member of UPC, a consortium of pro-poor organisations who work together with the common aim to improve living conditions in disadvantaged urban areas.

21 – 25 May: German Catholic Convention (Katholikentag)
MISEREOR will be one of the actors on the 97th German Catholic Convention (Katholikentag), the biggest event of the German Catholics taking place regularly. MISEREOR’s 50-year anniversary will be celebrated there in a “Festival of Encounters”. The most famous German a cappella group will also perform on this occasion.