“Fridays for future” activist accuses minister of inaction

adminonNovember 8, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Merle Bosing, Fridays for Future Dortmund, at the church congress © Caroline Seidel

Climate protection was a central theme not only at "Fridays for Future" in Aachen, but also at the Kirchentag on Friday. At halftime, the discussion also focused on hatred against politicians and violence against women. But a call for hope received particularly loud applause.

With demands for more speed in climate protection and resistance against hate, the Protestant Kirchentag in Dortmund reached its halfway point on Friday. Dortmund-based "Fridays for Future" activist Merle Bosing accused Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) of political inaction in a panel discussion.

Congolese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege called for more action by the international community against sexual violence in conflicts. At the same time, he called on the Kirchentag visitors to be grateful.

"Something other than talking has hardly happened so far"

While thousands of students from around the world took to the streets at the "Fridays for Future" demonstration in Aachen on Friday, 17-year-old activist Bosing met with German Environment Minister Schulze at the Kirchentag. The SPD politician announced that her climate protection law should be binding on current and future governments. "I want us to have very clear responsibilities for who has to reduce CO2 and how much," Schulze said.

In contrast, Bosing criticized that young people have been protesting for the climate for more than half a year, "but something other than talking has hardly happened in politics so far". Westphalian President Annette Kurschus, who is also deputy chairwoman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), called on the churches to take concrete action against global warming. It is not enough to support "Fridays for Future": "We have to put our own house in order, there is still a lot of room for improvement."

Mukwege: Appeal for more gratitude

Congolese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mukwege made an appeal for more gratitude to Kirchentag visitors. "You have peace, you have democracy, you can express yourselves freely," said the gynecologist who operates on women raped in eastern Congo. At the same time, Mukwege urgently renewed his call to end impunity for rapists in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Until Sunday, the 37. German Protestant Church Congress in Dortmund under the motto "What trust" invites to panels, prayers, workshops and concerts. In so-called Bible studies, in which well-known personalities interpret a passage of Scripture, church representatives and journalists warned on Friday against the consequences of hatred and agitation.

Bedford-Strohm: "Hate has consequences"

"When massive and systematic mistrust is sown against people in political responsibility, and people are attacked and accused on this basis, then the poison can even have a deadly effect," said EKD Council President Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, referring to the assassination of Kassel District President Walter Lubcke. Journalist Dunja Hayali also said Luebcke's murder by a suspected right-wing extremist showed "that hatred also has consequences".

In view of right-wing extremist threatening e-mails against several local politicians, Dortmund Mayor Ullrich Sierau (SPD) called for determined resistance. "One must not give in to these birds," said Sierau, who according to him receives threatening letters himself.

"Do not be afraid – an encouragement."

Despite all the threat scenarios, it was journalist Heribert Prantl who earned enthusiastic applause with his speech entitled "Do not be afraid – an encouragement". The "Suddeutsche Zeitung" journalist called for more humanity in refugee policy, resistance to populism and courage for solutions in climate policy. He ended his speech, which was celebrated with much applause, with the words: "The power of hope is the power against fear."

In the morning at 5 the cathedral chapter fetches the treasure

Symbol image: Young people in an Escape Room © Viacheslav Nikolaenko (shutterstock)

Something mysterious lies in the basement of the church – so precious that it will be transported to Cologne Cathedral. But: What is it about? Young people in Oberberg can track down the answer in an Escape Room.

Interviewer: An Escape Room in a church – how did you come up with it?

Christina Duster (Youth Officer): Our department at the Catholic Youth Agency is responsible for the various youth groups in the parishes – i.e. for the associations, for the parish youth groups or for the altar boys and girls. We always want to provide materials that groups can borrow for trips or events.

Then, some time ago, we had the idea of taking up the trend of Escape Rooms and developing such a game ourselves. This is what a colleague did – and this is how the "cellar secret" came into being.

Interviewer: The Escape Room will have to be played in the basement of the church?

Gloomy: Basically you can play everywhere. We thought about making an offer especially for young people together with the CulturKirche Oberberg and then setting up the Escape Room in the church. Where exactly this will be in the church, we have to see. Then it will be set up and the young people will have the opportunity to experience the church in a completely different way – if they have ever been to church at all or however long ago that was.

Interviewer: In your case, it's a little different than in other Escape Rooms: the participants are not locked in, but there is a story in the foreground, which even leads to the Cologne Cathedral. What exactly is behind it?

gloomy: Correct.The participants are not locked in, but they go to the basement room voluntarily because they are very curious. They overhear a conversation between the parish secretary and the sexton. There's a mysterious thing in the basement and it's so valuable that the next morning at five o'clock it's picked up by staff of the cathedral chapter because security in the basement of the parish is not guaranteed.

Being curious, the youngsters sneak there at four in the morning and have an hour to find this mysterious thing and figure out what is supposed to be transported there.

Interviewer: How to find out? Should you be Bible literate?

Bleak: It definitely doesn't hurt, but the puzzles are designed so that anyone can solve them with or without knowledge of the Bible. It does help if you know how to find Bible passages. But when in doubt, we are there to give tips.

Interviewer: Do you play against time or is there another opponent??

Bleak: It's not that anyone appears or is frightened or that the "evil sexton" appears all of a sudden. Above all, you have to work together as a group and think about how to deal with successes or failures. That is then perhaps still the largest opponent.

Interviewer: How can you participate?

Gloomy: Whoever wants to participate can contact me via e-mail or phone number. We still have a few free play times in the next week – and they could still be given away.

The interview was conducted by Verena Troster.

The Forum of German Catholics has come to the defense of Eichstatt Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke. Among others, canon lawyer Thomas Schuller had called on Hanke to resign after the publication of the report on the financial scandal.

Hanke is "not a perpetrator, but a victim of the financial scandal" in his diocese, emphasized Forum chairman Hubert Gindert on Thursday evening in Kaufering, Bavaria. Hanke is now being put under prere because he is considered a "high-profile defender of the Catholic faith", he said.

The Catholic Forum also speaks of a media campaign in this context. Again and again, long known things are reheated in order to discredit an institution or person. With finances or sexual abuse, "all topics would be connected that have long been on the agenda of the zeitgeist. The image of the priest, the hierarchical entanglement of the church, celibacy, the priesthood of women".

Canon lawyers and group "We are Church" call for Hanke's resignation

The diocese of Eichstatt had published on Tuesday a report by external lawyers on the financial scandal that it had made public itself a year ago. It talks about disappearing files, gross dereliction of duty and lack of controls during decades of mismanagement. Altogether with a damage for the diocese in two digit million height is to be counted. The report speaks of a "system Eichstatt"; it assigns a graduated co-responsibility to Bishop Hanke and Vicar General Isidor Vollnhals.

After the publication, Thomas Schuller, an ecclesiastical lawyer from Munster, and the group "Wir sind Kirche" had demanded Hanke's resignation. The Forum of German Catholics, founded in 2000, is, according to its own description, a loose association of "Catholics loyal to the pope and the church".

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