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More and more, churches are amusing themselves as political actors with a left-wing agenda, not only, but especially in Germany. In this way they reveal their message, deepen the social divide, and become superfluous.
In what direction does the cross point? The churches look for answers in this world.
Bergoglio wrote a letter. And since Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church under the name of Francis, the October 3 letter is called an encyclical, circular and instructive. The encyclical turned out to be quite long with more than 100 pages and was titled “Fratelli Tutti” – “We are all brothers.” The Pope calls for a new world order based on “political charity” and “social friendship”. To achieve the goal, “economic powers”, globalization, individualism and the principle of realization should be rejected in favor of a strong state and “sound politics.” “Fratelli Tutti” marks the climax of a Christian misunderstanding so far: the churches are increasingly seen as political actors with a leftist agenda. So they deny their mission, they risk credibility, and they just stick to bad traditions.
On the way to becoming a secular non-governmental organization
The paper box character of the encyclical, in which Pope Francis gathered and added his own quotes, cannot hide the fact that the churches are serious about their transformation into a secular non-governmental organization. The ecumenism of arbitrariness advances. Take a look at the joint statement of the Catholic Episcopal Conference and the Protestant Church on the 30th anniversary of German unity. In it, the President of the Council, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, and the President of the conference, Georg Bätzing, write: “In Germany and Europe, we are united in federal diversity by the democratic spirit of a responsible society in freedom and pluralism. (…) Our unity in diversity requires unconditional respect for one another, understanding the interest of one another and the solidarity lived with each other “.
This is what it sounds like when civil servants speak to themselves. The politicized church is also an official church. In it, the lines between political activism and spiritual concern are fluid. Bätzing praises the new encyclical that the Pope is committed to “equal opportunities, social inclusion and equity.” A local social-democrat or left-wing politician doesn’t speak otherwise, or Fridays for Future.
The Catholic bishop and leftist politicians like to praise each other
Hardly a sheet of paper fit between the Prime Minister of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, of the Left Party, and the Catholic Bishop of Erfurt, Ulrich Neymeyr. During their joint fireside talk in early October at the University of Erfurt, the left-wing politician praised “Fratelli Tutti.” It is “significant that the Pope, as a religious leader, as a religious representative, utters such a politically powerful word.” Only in the end he himself was a guest of Francis. He was deeply impressed by the Pope’s trip to the refugees in Lampedusa. The bishop returned the favor with the compliment that Ramelow was in office “really nonpartisan.” The two gentlemen agreed that the “political charity” demanded by Francis was urgently needed in a globalized world and that “pride at home” (Neymeyr) was dangerous because it was exclusive.
Unsurprisingly, there was also no dissension in Erfurt on the issue of flight and migration. Here too the Church manages to join forces with leftist politics. The help that Christianity really offers to the weakest of the neighbors becomes a “political opening for all” (Pope Francis). The Catholic Church treats itself of a media, family, social and environmental bishop, as well as a refugee bishop. The Protestant Church sends a rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea, the “Sea Watch 4 – powered by United 4 Rescue”, financed by church taxes and launched by a green member of the state parliament in the port of Kiel.
The refugee Catholic bishop resides in Hamburg, his name is Stefan Hesse and praises the “clear calls from the Church and civil society to overcome the humanitarian crisis at the external borders of the EU”. The president of the Bedford-Strohm Evangelical Council becomes clearer. It does not appeal, it demands with an authoritarian tone and together with the “Seebrücke Initiative”: “We hope that the federal government will no longer oppose the offers of the federal states, cities and municipalities to host refugees from the Greek camps.”
An indulgence for climate change
Like the devil the holy water, the churches avoid all theological rebellion and all spiritual guardianship. Instead of spiritual consumption, there are political lessons. In the central area of Christian proclamation, the hare’s foot is the program. The Catholic Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück spoke on behalf of many of his colleagues, saying that it is forbidden to “speak and preach about God in an instructive or even authoritarian way.” In political matters, however, there is no upper limit of the church for teaching of any kind. Every Christian should be a protector of the climate, announced the Bishop of Bamberg, Ludwig Schick; “At last the necessary steps must be taken to bring climate change to a responsible level,” Bedford-Strohm said.
There was an “ecumenical pilgrimage for climate justice” in 2015 and recently lots of praise from EKD and DBK for the youth strike for climate. “I think that’s good!” Declared the Catholic environmental bishop named Lohmann, “let’s do it! Much more is at stake! “The” Climatic Collection “, a” COtwo-Compensation Fund », is operated by both denominations. The Catholic leader justifies the commitment to the “vulnerability of creation,” which requires “open-eyed mysticism.” His evangelical partner attributes global warming to the problems of globalization and calls for financial compensation for all unavoidable emissions. So the theologically discarded bell bag for indulgence of sins returns as a collection for conscience-friendly climate compensation payment.
Routine dismay meets substitute passion
Bishop Schick of Bamberg was also the one who threw himself to the chest for supply chain law in a radio interview. The proposed law aims to oblige German companies to ensure fair production conditions around the world. “We,” said Schick, “could not make safeguarding human dignity and safeguarding human rights … an option if we want to have a humane and humane world.” The passion to fight for political projects stands in strange contrast to the routine of dismay with which churches acknowledge the breakdown of religious practice, the collapse of Christian education, and the exodus of believers.
Church tax collection in the billions has sped up rather than slowed down intellectual burnout. When the SPD and the Protestant Church meet today, a conclusion is read that points to an internal internal dialogue: “EKD and SPD represent open-mindedness and tolerance and are opposed to hatred and agitation. (…) At this time it is important to oppose the enemies of democracy and defend our democratic values, for the preservation of our pluralist society. “
The alliance of the throne and the altar is back
The consonance makes one suspect. The churches’ enthusiasm for confession has given way to fear that it will not be taken politically and therefore not taken seriously. Churches do not trust their own programmatic and linguistic quirks. In this way, with their backs to the self-constructed wall, they enliven the alliance of throne and altar on which the Protestant German Empire once rested, this time, of course, under ecumenical auspices. Catholics jettisoned their own knowledge that the spheres of state and church must be clearly separated; precisely this separation is the basis of the Concordats under international law.
Today the churches do not recognize that the politicizing church is also the one that divides in principle. To blur this impression, they look for interlocutors with whom they can expect kind consent. The much vaunted dialogue takes place not with the FDP or AfD, but above all with the Greens, the Left Party and the SPD. The typical phrase of the Bishop of Mainz, Peter Kohlgraf, that faith is political, fails to recognize that the goal of religious hope, redemption, can only occur individually. In their anti-individualistic fury, the churches are turning away from this early Christian message.
With Francis and many ecumenical brothers and sisters, it is clear what the flight into politics ultimately feeds on: cultural pessimism. The politicizing Church is also the terrified Church, which paints the present in darkness. The Pope calls for an active present State and “more effective world organizations” to put an end to a “sick society” and “moral decay”. Secular actors are supposed to help universal morality break through. Churches don’t trust themselves to do more than fund an ideological start-up. They know their biggest opponent. A cryptic phrase in “Fratelli Tutti” asserts that radical individualism is “the most difficult virus to defeat.” This statement may not only be absurd in the time of the Crown. It casts a hard light on the basic problem of political churches: they distrust people.
