“Diversity. The best thing creates simplicity”, is the motto of the 41^st German Intercultural Week in St Norbert Church, not far from the famous border transit camp of Friedland, in Lower Saxony. Yesterday, an ecumenical ceremony marked the opening of the ecumenical meeting that will offer 5 thousand events in over 500 places across Germany. The ceremony was officiated by the bishop of Hildesheim, monsignor Norbert Trelle, deputy president of the German Bishops Conference (Dbk), by bishop Dr Johann Hinrich Claussen, cultural director of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and archimandrite Gerasimos Frangoulakis, on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishops of Germany. The ecumenical prayer was attended by many residents of Friedland, who work at the border transit camp, Caritas staff and many refugees who live in the temporary facility that has become notorious for the 2015 flight of migrants and asylum seekers. “Friedland has become synonym with participation and social inclusion”, said Trelle, because “active participation and the search for a new, shared ground are at the centre of the Intercultural Week”. According to the prelate, there is a need for “global solidarity, especially with the weaker ones, those who have fled war, hunger and the humiliation of persecution”.