Recently, on the 28th of December, at a solemn event in the Carmelite house in Bamberg, Germany, the unification of the Provinces of Upper Germany and Lower Germany to form the one Province of Germany took place. The ceremony began with an historical overview by Dr. Edeltraud Klueting, Third Order Carmelite, of the presence of Carmelites in Germany  for more than 750 years. The Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm. then spoke. He pointed to the unification as a sign of vitality towards a better service of the people of God. Far from being a defeat this unification comes as a challenge to sow the seeds in Germany of the Carmel of the future. The decree of unification was read and then the two outgoing provincials in a symbolic gesture handed over the seals of their former provinces to the Prior General who gave the seal of the new Province of Germany to the Prior Provincial, Fr. Dieter Lankes, O.Carm.

The Archbishop of Bamberg, Ludwig Schick, the President of the German Conference of Religious, the Representative of the Minister for Culture of Bavaria, all addressed the gathering, offering their good wishes. The Prior Provincial of the Province of the Netherlands, Fr.  Ben Wolbers, O.Carm. gave a gift of the artistic representation of the Carmelite Rule by the Dutch artist, Arie Trum, written in German. At that point there was a presentation of the Monasticon Carmelitanum, which describes each of the houses of the Carmelites in Germany since the Order first began there. The new website of the united province (www.karmeliten.de) was then presented.

In the afternoon, the Prior General led the solemn celebration of the Mass of Thanksgiving. The concelebrants included, the Vice Prior General, Fr. Christian Kőrner, O.Carm., the Councilor General for Europe, Fr. John Keating, O.Carm., the two German provincials, Fr. Wilfried Wanjek, O.Carm., and Fr. Dieter Lankes, O.Carm. along with numerous German Carmelites and representatives of the Provinces of Britain, St. Thomas in India, the General Commissariat of Paraná, the communities of the Cameroon, all of these last three in different ways linked closely to the Province of Germany. In his homily, the Prior General spoke about Bl. Titus Brandsma, the Patron of the new province, as an important figure of reconciliation, unity and hope, and a shining example for the united province.