“Here i cannot be silent at all”

adminonNovember 9, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki © Harald Oppitz (KNA)

Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has defended the Church's sociopolitical commitment to the protection of life. On ies where politics intervenes in life, the Church cannot remain silent.

Although the Church adheres to the separation between God and state, he said on Friday in the program "Church in WDR 2" on the "Week for Life" of the Protestant and Catholic Churches. "But here we are dealing with questions in which politics intervenes in life. And here I may, here I cannot be silent at all."

"Many left behind"

Woelki criticized the number of abortions, which increased again last year. However, he does not understand the "Week for Life" as a pure anti-abortion campaign. It is a week "for" and not "against" something. He is driven by the fact that "we are better off in Germany than ever before," but at the same time the fringes of society are fraying and there are many people left behind.

In concrete terms, Woelki mentioned precariously employed people, young people from problem neighborhoods who could not find an apprenticeship simply because of their address, sexually abused children and spouses who were beaten bloody. In addition, he referred to "the 60 people who die anonymously every month in Cologne alone because no one knew them or visited them anymore.".

The new interim leader of the Archdiocese of Santiago in Chile, Bishop Celestino Aos, met Friday with victims of sexual abuse by priests. He asked for apology for the violence suffered by the victims.

According to Chilean media reports, Bishop Celestino Aos visited the headquarters of the victims' initiative "Para la confianza" and asked for apologies for the violence suffered. According to the report, the founders of the initiative, James Hamilton, Juan Carlos Cruz and Jose Andres Murillo, praised the gesture, but reiterated the call for concrete steps to be taken.

Assault priests protected and clarification obstructed

The Archdiocese of Santiago is at the center of the nationwide abuse scandal in Chile. Both the head of the diocese, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, who retired at the end of March, and his predecessor, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, are accused of having protected abusive priests for decades and of having obstructed the investigation.

Bishop Aos visited the center of "Para la confianza" immediately after his return from Rome, where he had spent a week discussing the situation of the Church in Santiago with members of the Curia and Pope Francis.

Concrete acts of reparation

The newspaper La Tercera quoted Hamilton, the victim's representative, as saying that Aos had asked for an apology and had spoken of an "infinite guilt". According to the bishop, it is a matter of starting a process of reparation. This is also the only way the Catholic Church can regain trust.

The initiative's co-founder, Cruz, told "La Tercera" that the time for words is over; the many victims expect "concrete action".

Compensation demanded

At the end of March, an appeals court in Santiago had ruled that a compensation claim by Cruz, Hamilton and Murillo for sexual abuse suffered was legal. According to the ruling, church leaders must pay the three plaintiffs the equivalent of 130 each.000 euros to be paid. The Archdiocese of Santiago said it would not oppose the decision.

Profound church reforms

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper "El Pais", Aos again spoke out in favor of far-reaching church reforms. It is necessary to "understand the real dimension of the acts," the bishop said. "To recognize them and to face the truth, only this will set us free"."

It is also necessary to ask how this "unjustifiable" situation could have come about. Aos acknowledged that in the past, this self-examination had been done "with lies, in an attempt to preserve the good reputation of the church".

Union faction leader Volker Kauder has called for a stronger commitment to religious freedom in Turkey. "If Turkey says "internal processes are our business," I say, "But the commitment to Christians in this country is our business."

The CDU politician said on Saturday at a congress of Christian leaders in Nuremberg. Last year there had been reports of church closures in Turkey.

Regarding speculation that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might want to promote his controversial constitutional reform at an event in Germany in March, Kauder said, according to the congress organizers, that this could probably not be prevented. But Germany will endure it, he said. Because that distinguishes a democracy from a dictatorship. German politicians had called on the federal government to prevent such an appearance.

Against adoption right of homosexual partnerships

Kauder also criticized the fact that many school education plans include an early examination of different sexual identities. This is not aligned with the interests of the children, but with those of "some ideologues," he said. "We are not against enlightenment and tolerance. But we want this to be done in a child-friendly way."

Kauder also spoke out against putting homosexual partnerships on an equal footing with married couples when it comes to adopting children: "I am not in favor of full adoption rights for homosexual partnerships. I make no secret of this."At the three-day meeting in Nuremberg, which ended on Saturday, 2900 Christian leaders discussed the theme "Leading with values", according to the organizers.

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