Germany’s Catholic bishops reacted quickly to the national election on Sunday, saying they hoped the “democratic centre” could soon form a government and deal with challenges from the far-right. Source: The Tablet.
Without naming any parties, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the bishops’ conference, made clear he supported a coalition of the first-placed Christian Democrats (CDU) and third-placed Social Democrats (SPD) to block the far-right runner-up Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.
“I hope that we will now quickly get a stable government that will tackle the problems,” Bishop Bätzing said. “Germany must be integrated into a democratic Europe, as a country with a rule of law, freedom, cosmopolitanism and solidarity.”
With an 82 per cent voter turnout, the CDU advanced 4.4 percentage points to lead at 28.5 per cent of the vote while the formerly governing SPD slumped by 9.3 points for a third-place 16.4 percent result.
That will be enough for a “grand coalition” that can exclude the populist AfD, which focused on growing discontent with immigration and the economy to surge by 10.4 points to a total of 20.8 per cent.
Prelates across the Catholic spectrum echoed Bishop Bätzing’s words.
Cologne Archbishop Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, a leading Church conservative, hoped for a coalition that could “promote social cohesion and effectively counteract all tendencies towards division and polarisation”.
Hamburg Archbishop Stephen Hesse, who supports women’s ordination, said: “From my Christian perspective, social justice and the integration of the people who come to us must have a firm place on the political agenda.”
Irme Stetter-Karp, head of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, congratulated CDU leader Friedrich Merz on his party’s victory and added: “Anyone who wants a future cannot go back to the past in this situation. Not in climate policy. Not in economic and not in social policy.”
The AfD’s gains, she said, “must challenge us to continue to fight with all our strength for our democracy and against racism”.
FULL STORY
German bishops urge firm leadership after CDU election victory (By Tom Heneghan, The Tablet)
