The AfD’s triumph is also a blow to the Church

Rome. If Alternative für Deutschland manages to come to power in Saxony-Anhalt and implements the programme it has long been announcing, dark times will begin for the Churches (the Catholic and Protestant Churches). Funding cuts, a reduction in public ‘platforms’ for engagement – less publicity for charitable works – and an end to the customary and civilised dialogue that has hitherto been regularly conducted between government representatives and ecclesiastical authorities. The Churches’ extensive campaign to avert the outcome of the election proved futile: the triumph of the far-right party. Just last Sunday, the Bishop of Magdeburg, Monsignor Gerhard Feige – the very same bishop who, during Lent, had distributed a leaflet urging people to think carefully about how they voted before lamenting the consequences of their choice at the ballot box – had once again launched a scathing indictment of the increasingly widespread ‘nationalist and xenophobic spirit’. He had spoken of the need to “resist” those theories which seek to set aside human dignity, charity, solidarity, dialogue and tolerant, cosmopolitan coexistence. “What apocalyptic and racist ideas have now taken root in the minds of so many! Love for one’s neighbour has become a taboo word, whilst hostility towards fellow human beings has become socially acceptable,” he said. The bishop never mentioned the AfD, but the reference was obvious, particularly when, in his homily delivered during the diocesan pilgrimage to Huysburg Abbey, he alluded to those political forces that “sow discord, fuel mistrust and fears, seek to drastically curtail the rights and freedoms that have existed until now and, at the same time, in their messianic presumption, promise paradisiacal conditions”.

With the results now confirmed, the Bishop of Magdeburg can only appeal “to the election winners to fully respect our country’s Constitution, namely the Basic Law, and to uphold the dignity of all people”. The Protestant Bishop Friedrich Kramer made it clear that “even after the elections, we Churches stand firmly alongside those who are keeping a close eye on the AfD’s policies. Together with all committed citizens, we will continue to fight for the human dignity of every single person, for charity and for a society based on solidarity”. In a statement issued yesterday morning and signed by Bishop Feige, Bishop Kramer and the President of the Regional Evangelical Church of Anhalt, Karsten Georg Wolkenhauer, they noted “with great concern the election result. These regional elections have profoundly altered the political balance in Saxony-Anhalt. The state is divided. Our concern relates to social peace and coexistence amongst people in our state. The election result reveals deep dissatisfaction across broad sections of the population. At the same time, there are a great many people who selflessly put themselves at the service of others, offering advice, help and their time; they assist, give, share, listen and support one another”. This concern “also relates to the consequences announced by the AfD that the election result could have for culture and education, for the community and voluntary sector, for diaconal work, Caritas and the Churches, as well as for internal and external security. “As Churches, we have a long history of resilience behind us: we have overcome dictatorships and oppression, wars and crises, and we will continue to open our doors to all those seeking protection and peace, healing and guidance in the presence of God”. In a commentary published on the website of the Bishops’ Conference, Dirk Bingener, president of missio Aachen – one of Germany’s leading Catholic organisations engaged in international missionary cooperation – wrote that the Church in Germany now faces the question of “what contribution it can make” in a situation where people feel alone. What is needed, he argues, is “a greater presence in everyday life”; otherwise, it leaves room for the propaganda of groups such as the AfD.

However, not everyone is pleased with the bishops’ activism in denouncing the dangers of far-right programmes. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, in an article published on Kath.net, wrote that the bishops “cannot in any way place their spiritual authority at the service of the legitimate struggle for a majority of the electorate’s votes in a democratic state governed by the rule of law – which the Federal Republic of Germany undoubtedly is, according to its Constitution – by favouring or opposing a single political party. This would constitute an abuse of spiritual authority for political ends”.