German election: Churches go political amid social divisions

At the end of January, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian ally the Christian Social Union (CSU), the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party voted together for much stricter asylum rules, triggering a heated debate that has yet to subside.

Before the vote, the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) and the Catholic German Bishops' Conference (DBK) wrote a joint letter to all parliamentarians urgently warning against such collaboration. The letter was signed by leading figures from the two denominations, prelates Anne Gidion and Karl Jüsten.

Gidion and Jüsten head the liaison offices for federal politics of their respective churches, meaning that their word carries weight in Berlin. But their warning was heeded neither by the conservative CDU/CSU bloc nor the FDP.

Has democracy been harmed?

Even though surveys show that two-thirds of the German population is in favor of tightening asylum rules, half is against relying on votes from the AfD to pass any motions or laws. There was thus considerable outrage at the collaboration between the conservatives and the far-right party.

Gidion and Jüsten were also among those to point in vain to the fact that parliamentary parties had agreed, after the break-up of the three-way coalition led by the Social Democrats (SPD), that they would refuse any majorities achieved by relying on the AfD.

"We fear that German democracy will be massively harmed if this political pledge is dropped," the two top clergy wrote.

Tensions between the churches and the conservative bloc, in particular, have been very palpable just ahead of the federal elections on February 23.

Markus Söder, the CSU chairman and Bavarian premier, told the corporate newsroom Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that he believed Gidion and Jüsten's letter had not been officially sanctioned by the two churches. He said several bishops and many church members had dissociated themselves from it. Söder, himself a Protestant, also stressed: "We accept the criticism, but we also have to be allowed to give our opinion — including me, as a devout Christian."

A 'cardinal error'

The leader of the CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, Klaus Holetschek, was even more forthright. "In a democracy, day-to-day political issues are a matter for parliament, not for sermons," he railed in an interview with the daily Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung. He said the Protestant and Catholic prelates' criticism of the course taken by Friedrich Merz, the conservative bloc's candidate for chancellor at the upcoming elections, was a "cardinal error."

Holetschek, a Catholic, told the Protestant news agency epd that he did not have a good feeling when churches clearly took one side in highly controversial social debates shortly before federal elections. He said he saw the churches' main area of competence to be in giving society a Christian foundation.

Protecting human dignity

The EKD Council chair, Bishop Kirsten Fehrs, defended the churches' sallies on issues such as migration and democracy, saying they had clear stances in these areas.

Fehrs pointed to the long Christian tradition in the CDU and CSU, as reflected by the C for "Christian" in their names. "The alliance is marked by joint fundamental convictions such as the protection of human dignity and the preservation of creation," Fehrs said at a press conference in Berlin.

Her remarks were prompted by a study on the societal mood in Germany that was jointly commissioned with the social services run by the Protestant Church. For the study, the polling institute Forsa surveyed 2,000 people aged 18 and over in December 2024.

Fehrs described the results, which were released online, as alarming. "Most people in our country feel a division. And many are withdrawing to their bubble," she said.

Freedom of speech in danger?

According to the study, the consequences of this feeling are very grave. More than half of repondents (51%) said they could not freely say what they think anymore without causing anger. Almost a third (32%) said they had distanced themselves from others over controversial issues or even broken off contact entirely. A look at the so-called Worry Barometer (Sorgenbarometer) shows that there is a great fear of ever more hate, hostility and social conflicts.

In a bid to counter this widespread lack of communication, the church and its social services want to provide spaces on their premises for the exchange of views. The meeting places aim to provide the chance for people holding widely different opinions to listen to each other. People who sympathize with the AfD or vote for the party are also welcome, the church says.

No complete tolerance for AfD

Fehrs says she is, however, skeptical about elected representatives of the AfD, as the party maintains several far-right and highly nationalistic stances. Both Christian churches already distanced themselves from it in public statements made in 2024.

"We are taking the joint action of warning against electing right-wing extremist parties, including the AfD, because they discriminate against minorities and endanger democracy," Fehrs said at the time.

There will also be six large forums for dialogue. The first will take place in the German city of Hanau on February 17, with Bishop Fehrs in attendance. It was in this city to the east of Frankfurt am Main that a far-right extremist murdered nine people with a migration background in 2020. The discussion is to explore the lessons to be learned from this racist crime.

This article was originally written in German.

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