German bishops reiterate AfD criticism and warn against government participation

The Catholic bishops in Germany reiterated their criticism of the AfD at the end of their autumn general meeting in Fulda and warned of the consequences of the party's participation in government. The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Heiner Wilmer, said that we would be faced with a "paradigm change" if the AfD took over government responsibility.

“We have everyone’s back”

«The AfD questions the basic values of our coexistence. She wants a different Germany,” explained Wilmer. Against the backdrop of the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, he also demonstratively supported Magdeburg Bishop Gerhard Feige and the Magdeburg diocese. “We have everyone’s back.”

Nevertheless, it is shocking when 30 percent of Catholics in the East voted for the AfD, a party that diametrically contradicts the Christian view of God and humanity and that is classified as firmly right-wing extremist in Saxony-Anhalt.

Talk to people and listen to them

The mission of the church is to talk to people and give them space to listen. Her answer is a reference to the Judeo-Christian tradition, to human dignity, charity and democratic culture.

“We all belong together as a human family,” said Wilmer. Nobody can save themselves alone, neither Germany nor Europe. “We can only get through the floods and past the cliffs if we stick together in the spirit of the Holy Father, Pope Leo, and see ourselves as a big family.”

“Need to strengthen the democratic-political center”

Racial nationalism and Christianity are incompatible, Wilmer emphasized. The church will continue to speak out if hatred and incitement against population groups increase or if democratic institutions are weakened.

“We will do everything as Catholic bishops and as the established Catholic Church in Germany to stop the increasing centrifugal forces in society,” he emphasized. «We need a new dynamic for more social cohesion. We need to strengthen the democratic-political center.”