Catholic bishops warn against right-wing populism | Germany | '
Experts have been advising and formulating for a number of months – now a working aid by the Catholic bishops of Germany "for dealing with right-wing populist tendencies in the church" fits quite well into heated political and ecclesiastical debates. With the 70-page document they want to help church members in discussions and debates – and obviously warn many of their sheep from slipping to the right.
"Everyone counts the same, no person is more or less important, that is the fundamental promise of our constitution: the fundamental equality of every human being whose dignity is inviolable," the bishops emphasize as the basis of the text. The populism that challenges people today is "fundamentally opposed to all people". Right-wing populism stands "for the exclusion of others and strangers".
Pope Francis made clear specifications
The bishops refer to the actions and statements of Jesus, to basic documents of the Second Vatican Council, which was the most important position determination of the Catholic Church for the modern period from 1962 to 1965, and to a keynote address by Pope Francis in autumn 2018 on "xenophobia, racism and populism in the context of global migration ". It was his programmatic announcement against resurgent "attitudes that had been considered by many to be overcome".
Against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
These guidelines have consequences. These include the strict rejection of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, of xenophobia in general. The treacherous terms "monument of shame" for the Berlin memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe and the "bird's shit" for the years of the Nazi dictatorship from the vocabulary of the AfD are explicitly mentioned – unlike the name of the party.
It continues: "The populism that challenges us shows its threatening face day by day … 'Fake News', lies, hatred and condemnation slogans are commonplace and populist simplifiers play a dangerous game right up to the highest political level." This is followed by the refusal of "inner hardening, fear-obsessed self-reference and doomsday fantasies". And as a reminder to the policy follows the explanation of the basic ecclesiastical understanding of family and migration.
Engagement in refugee assistance – Church language course in Königsdorf near Kerpen
The work aid also describes 19 so-called practical examples. The action "Your Basic Law" in Saxony-Anhalt tries to bring the basic values into public debates and the public space (and admits critical voices). The diocese of Essen goes with "Sach wat! Tacheles for tolerance" on "pub crawl against Stammtisch slogans". In Viernheim near Mannheim, the initiative "Ich bin ein Viernheimer" has provided over 100 sponsorships for refugees. And one example is also about the day-to-day work of Catholic migrants in Germany.
Tensions in the church
All these are "many successful examples" of how church pastoral care and their social work address the current challenges, said Osnabrück Bishop Franz-Josef Bode.
Franz-Josef Bode, Bishop of Osnabrück
He warned that the church must "withstand all tendencies that demand, 'the own, the Germans or the Catholics first'". Several times he warned at the presentation of the work aid before "Stammtisch slogans". And he acknowledged that there was also "inner need for discussion and clarification" within the church.
Similarly expressed the Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Heße. "It is important for us to formulate an offer of dialogue for all believers, regardless of their political views," said Heße, who is responsible for migration at the Episcopal Conference. The Church also bore responsibility for pastoral responsibilities that sympathized with right-wing populist tendencies.
Syrian refugees in a Catholic parish in Tangermünde (Saxony-Anhalt)
The fact that the French bishops already inquired during the preparation of the work aid suggests that this challenge also exists in other countries.
"Name real problems"
The political scientist Werner Patzelt, who is a member of the CDU and deals intensively with the emergence of the AfD, which is sometimes also accused of clear proximity to AFD positions, expressed positive about the work aid. "Something has succeeded here," he said. He read the document "with great intellectual and human joy." At the same time, he campaigned for naming that integration and migration "also involved real problems". It is not that worries are only "fueled" by populists.
Should official church representatives talk to AFD representatives? There is currently no time for that, the bishops said at the presentation. The document is not just about these right-wing populists. The constant narrowing of populism to the AfD does not do justice to the problem "and does the AfD too much honor," said Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann. Patzelt has a decidedly different opinion and promotes contacts with the AfD: "Because no one has to be prescribed where he makes his cross, one has to first reach people communicatively."
One point underlined the Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann at the presentation of the study. In view of the current challenges, right-wing populism is "consciously in the spotlight" of the working aid. Basically, it's about populism of left and right. This is stated in the introduction to the document, which is meant to help churches and church groups "deal with phenomena of populism". Only then does the emphasis follow "above all with right-wing populist tendencies".
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