A senior bishop in Germany has again ordered Christians in the country not to vote for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
This time the edict was in relation to the upcoming regional elections, with the States of Saxony and Thuringia set to go to the polls on September 1.
Speaking ahead of the ballot, Georg Bätzing, the chair of the German Bishops’ Conference, reiterated that his organisation had ordered Christians to avoid the party several months ago.
“We, the German Bishops’ Conference, unanimously published a statement on this in February,” he said, describing what he saw as “ethnic nationalism” as being “incompatible with the basic values of Christianity”.
“Right-wing populist parties cannot be a place for political activity for Christians. Our society is undeniably facing many challenges. But we must not under any circumstances put civil liberties and democracy at risk,” he added.
When pressed, Bätzing admitted that he rejected the idea that all adherents of the religion within Saxony and Thuringia who were thinking about giving the AfD their vote were “bad Christians”.
“But,” he added, “right-wing extremist parties like the AfD in Thuringia are not electable for Christians.
“Voting is a civic duty. We encourage this. But we also want to offer guidance.
“Anyone who looks at public statements by representatives of the AfD and their programs comes to the conclusion that they contradict fundamental Christian principles, human dignity, the commandment of Christian love of neighbour and solidarity,” he went on to claim.
“This party wants to overthrow our democratic, Liberal system. I must warn Christians about this.”
The bishop’s criticisms of the party have been met with resistance, with AfD Bundestag MP Malte Kaufmann denouncing the clergyman’s statements as “pathetic propaganda”.
“There are many committed and professed Christians in the AfD. We are fully committed to it and are calling for people to vote!” he said, adding that he hoped hundreds of thousands of German citizens would officially leave the church in 2024.
In Germany, Christians often publicly register their allegiance to a single faith with the government in order to pay the country’s so-called “Church Tax”.
An optional income tax in the region of around 9 per cent that religious adherents can opt into paying, the proceeds of the tax go directly to the faith group the payee is officially registered as.
Voters should beware of the “nationalistic temptation” of Euroscepticism in June’s European Parliament elections, Catholic bishops waned in an election message. https://t.co/iKOsF0n1gF
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 15, 2024
