After “amoris laetitia”

adminonDecember 24, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Archbishop Heiner Koch on the 100th. Katholikentag © Harald Oppitz (KNA)

Tim Kurzbach © N.N.

At the Katholikentag in Leipzig, Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch dampened hopes that the German bishops would quickly take a position on how to deal with families and partnerships that do not conform to the Catholic ideal.

"We need to reflect on this in peace," Koch said Friday at the 100. German Catholic Day in Leipzig. The members of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference, he said, agree in their perception of the reality of life for many Catholics, but not in their evaluation of it.

The chairman of the Diocesan Council of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Tim-Oliver Kurzbach, criticized this clearly. Ies such as the treatment of remarried divorcees, the discrepancy between the reality of life and church teaching, and the treatment of homosexuals have been known for years. "It is time to speak plainly and to take concrete action," said Kurzbach, who is the mayor of Solingen for the SPD. There has been enough talk, said the lay representative. He urged the German bishops, "You have the option to act, then act also."

No universally valid regulation of the German bishops

Kurzbach was referring to the papal letter "Amoris laetitia," which Pope Francis published after two major family synods in early April. Pope Francis had avoided concrete guidelines for admitting remarried divorcees to communion, but had called for more realism and strengthened the freedom of conscience of individuals and local churches in countries.

By strengthening freedom of conscience, "Pope Francis is asking something of us," said Archbishop Koch, who had attended the Vatican Synod on the Family with the president of the bishops' conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and Bishop Franz-Josef Bode (Osnabruck). There, too, "we are faced with major ies that we must address," said Koch.

In Koch's opinion, there should be no universal regulation by the German bishops, for example, on remarried divorcees: "I warn against regulating everything legally." Lay representative Kurzbach, on the other hand, called for "unity and clarity". The decision on how to deal with the faithful should not be left to individual pastors at the local level, he said at a discussion event "Between Doctrine and the World of Life. Partnership, Marriage, Sexuality after the Synod on the Family" at the Opera in Leipzig.

"We are on the way"

For the Central Committee of German Catholics, which organizes Katholikentag, Munster theology professor Dorothea Sattler took an intermediate position. Bishops should appoint trained experts in the regions who could talk to the faithful in difficult life situations. Koch announced he would take the proposal into the talks.

In principle, Sattler agreed with Koch's assessment that no resolutions are currently possible. "The questions have not yet been answered, we are on the way."

Amnesty International calls on the German government to show more commitment to human rights. Monika Luke, secretary general of the German branch of the human rights organization, cites Iran, Guantanamo and the foreign deployments of the German armed forces, but also sees major deficits in the EU.

epd: Ms. Luke, what is your human rights assessment of the year 2010?

Luke: This year, two topics were particularly important for Amnesty with regard to German politics: the foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr and the compulsory identification of the police. We demand that Defense Minister Guttenberg initiate a law that regulates the rights and duties of soldiers on foreign missions and clarifies exactly how the human rights of civilians, including insurgents, must be protected.
Berlin police to introduce mandatory identification in first months of 2011. Police officers may choose name or number. This is a great success. Now the other federal states and the federal police must follow suit. Labeling is important because in cases of disproportionate force, those responsible can be identified and prosecuted. On the other hand, colleagues are protected from unjustified accusations.
epd: Where are regressions to be lamented?

Luke: In terms of human rights, there is a black spot in Europe, and that is discrimination against Roma people. Germany and all EU member states must end legal discrimination and exclusion of Roma from society. Thus, in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Roma children are sent to special schools. The Strasbourg Court of Human Rights has condemned this action against the right to education and inadmissible discrimination. Unfortunately, the reform efforts of the Czech and Slovak governments have not been sufficient so far.
epd: What is the general state of human rights in the European Union??

Luke: There are further shortcomings in the EU: the Spanish authorities continue to detain people suspected of terrorist activities without contact with the outside world, although international human rights institutions had repeatedly called for the abolition of this practice. The European Court of Human Rights has criticized the lack of independence of the public prosecutor's office in France.
New laws in Lithuania criminalizing information about homosexuality are not compatible with the EU's common values and human rights standards. At the same time, there is little willingness within the EU to address human rights deficits with EU partners. This damages the country's own credibility.
epd: Let's look at the USA: How do you assess the state of affairs at Guantanamo??

Luke: Development is disappointing. In 2010, the closure of the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba, announced by President Obama, was postponed indefinitely. That means even under Obama, about 100 prisoners remain locked up there indefinitely without sentencing. About 30 to be tried by military commissions. The U.S. government's plan to bring at least some of the prisoners before civil courts in the U.S. failed in the U.S. Congress in December and, with the new majority there, has little chance of success in the coming years as well.
By accepting two prisoners from Guantanamo in September, Germany took an important step toward ending illegal detention, at least in two cases. German government should consider accepting more prisoners while pushing for closure of detention center.
epd: How do you rate the human rights policy of the black-yellow coalition??

Luke: The German government is increasingly willing to put human rights ies on its agenda and address them publicly. This also applies to ies that were considered almost taboo for a long time, such as human rights violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Due to its seat on the World Security Council from 2011, Germany has an international responsibility to actively stand up for human rights. This is how the German government must fight for the recognition of the International Criminal Court.
On the other hand, the coalition showed little to no understanding in the run-up to the UN summit in September that human rights play a central role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and fighting poverty. In development cooperation, too, we unfortunately observe critical tendencies when economic promotion is declared to be a main concern of the cooperation.
epd: Iran continues to be one of the countries with a very poor human rights record. What can the West do?

Luke: Amnesty International expects the German government and German politicians to continue to speak out publicly and to those responsible in Tehran on behalf of imprisoned activists, human rights defenders, journalists and students.
The ongoing repression of dissent must be the subject of dialogue in all contacts with the Iranian government – including talks on the nuclear program. It is crucial for the credibility of the German government's human rights policy, and that of the West in general, that double standards are not applied. In concrete terms, this means that the human rights situation in friendly states such as Israel, Egypt or Saudi Arabia is also openly and clearly addressed.

The interview was conducted by Elvira Treffinger.

To fail as the Weimar Republic?

The foundation of the day-to-party work in the party democracy are a few factions in parliament that either coalize or pull as closed troops against each other. The complexity of the views, goals, people’s life situations is reduced to a few high-contrast colors, discipline inward and relentless opponent in front – that makes friend enemy policy, which has already described Carl Schmitt as clearly.

Creditwurrity can not be won in a modern informed company so. Why should two MPs who agree with the smoking ban in guest institutes, even in questions of military intervention in Afghanistan and in the primal implantation diagnostics. This is not a cheeze plausible, which is why the people, not wrong, the impression wins, the deputies, who allegedly "only obliged to your conscience", In reality, the soldiers in the parliamentary struggle that are manovably manadized by their supervisors in the faction guide or in the government.

A counter-design represents the idea of "Liquid democracy", So a randomization of rigid fronts in parliamentary work. Here, in relation to individual topics and subject matters, majorities could be formed. Basic principle is that the individual deputies on a topic either themselves the necessary expertise or – according to his own basic setting – familiar to another, which then uses the voting content of the first. This can, too, can now decide whether he participates in the vote or passes on his share of another, more competent deputy.

The ghost of the Weimar Republic

Could work Liquid Democracy in parliament? In any case, and quasi now. However, Dafur had to happen in the Kopf both the political class and public opinion a lot.

In a picture of "changing majorities", As it is inevitably produced by the concept of Liquid Democracy, you may be reminiscent of the Chaotic Code of the Weimar Republic. The government was not dazzen from a government crisis into the other when the parties of the "Government coalition" Do not coordinate uniform to all decisions and legislative projects?

The goods only then the case if you were equal to the whole relationship because of each individual question. In normal life, no one makes, in a marriage, one can go to the pop concert and the other go to the cinema, without the same co-life entirely stands for disposition.

The basic law enshrines not only the conscience and fractional freedom of each deputy, but also the separation of powers. After this, a coupling of the government is not necessary to a majority coalition in Parliament anyway. It is important that the Parliament agrees to a chancellor or a chancellor at the beginning of a legislative period and then accepted the government members. The separation of powers then envisages that Parliament will declare the laws that this government then – with support of the interim ministries – has to implement. Then it can certainly be the one or the other law that the Chancellor does not fit, according to the Basic Law this is not necessary. It should not think laws, but implement.

Thus, according to the principle of liquid democracy, the parliamentarians with flebing majorities were able to advise and demonstrated and forwarded to the Cabinet for implementation. We were able to have an authentic, more believable policy, without even a word at the Basic Law to other goods – his wording had to be taken seriously.

But how is then chopped?

One could argue that the Wahler but clear programs of parties in which politics are the party, and not what different policies track the individual politicians. This is two ways to say:

First, people who have the same or related views have to have political ies continue to come together in the same party and support the same policy program. For these principles, a party is chosen, but that does not mean that the people who are elected there have been the same opinion in every single question. There may be as well as in Parliament as in the people to be reproduced by Parliament.

Second, such a parliament requires serious with the separation of powers, no more 5 percent hurde. Thus, many more parties with much differentiated and specialized programs were able to apply for space in parliament. Many people is exactly a policy field particularly important – and the specialists for this field they were able to elect themselves in parliament, so that they are among the other deputies for the fields on which they are competent to promote trust and majorities.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply