Rhineland-palatinate successful against npd

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The brochure of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate "Communities against right-wing extremism", which was challenged by the NPD in court, may continue to be distributed. The Rhineland-Palatinate Constitutional Court on Tuesday in Koblenz rejected the complaint of the NPD state association, which wanted to achieve a ban on the brochure. The state government has the task of upholding the free democratic basic order and actively standing up for it, explained the President of the Constitutional Court, Karl-Friedrich Meyer, in the reasoning for the ruling. Prime Minister Kurt Beck calls for new ban proceedings.

In the performance of their duty to protect, state organs may also use the means of public information, Meyer explained. In this context, the actual behavior of parties may also be judged as extremist or endangering the interests of the state. NPD: unabashedly nationalistis The right of political parties to equal opportunities prohibits state measures that arbitrarily impair a party's right to equal competitive opportunities. However, this was not the case with the state brochure. Meyer referred to the most recent state security report, according to which the NPD is described as a blatantly nationalistic party that is among the most aggressive organizations in the right-wing extremist spectrum.Rhineland-Palatinate's Prime Minister Kurt Beck (SPD) has spoken out in favor of a new ban procedure against the radical right-wing party following the NPD's failed action against the state government for a ban. The Verfangsgerichtshof in Koblenz had determined that "the NPD ranks in the right-wing extremist spectrum among the most aggressive organizations", said Beck on Tuesday in Mainz. The question of a ban is still open, he said. "I support a renewed ban procedure," said the SPD leader. The court's decision strengthens the defensible democracy.

Rhineland-Palatinate supports municipalities against NPD In the case at hand, the NPD had filed suit against the distribution of the state brochure because, as a non-prohibited party, it felt that its constitutional rights had been violated. In addition, it reprimanded a violation of the ban on equal treatment in relation to the other parties.In May of this year, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior published "Kommunen gegen Rechtsextremismus" (Communities against Right-Wing Extremism). The report points out possible measures that local authorities could take against attempts by the NPD to buy real estate or to recruit young people as members through music.

Sad record of right-wing violence Right-wing extremist motivated acts of violence are, according to the chairman of the association Gesicht Zeigen!, Uwe-Karsten Heye, become commonplace. "We had a sad record of right-wing extremist criminal and also violent acts in 2006; it is already clear that the figures will be exceeded in 2007," Heye told the "Frankfurter Rundschau" (Tuesday edition). He added: "The right-wing scene is bringing violence more and more into everyday life."The former government spokesman for ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroder (SPD) blames a "culture hostile to children and young people" for acts like the one in Mittweida late last week, where neo-Nazis carved a swastika into the skin of a young woman: "This is how we strengthen the recruitment field of the far right."Heye sees possible steps against right-wing violence in a "school reform worthy of the name" and better preschool education.

Nazis do not fall from the sky He told the newspaper, "I'm still calling for a democracy summit. Sports associations, the cultural sector and the police must be represented here as well as politicians. The individual countries are obviously overburdened with this; we have a national task ahead of us."More important than a possible ban on the far-right NPD is civil society resistance, said Heye. "First and foremost, we must take a clear stand, in the workplace, as teachers in schools, as parents. There is no Nazi who falls from the sky; Nazis are made to be Nazis."

The theme of Pope Francis' trip to Colombia is reconciliation. But nowhere is this more tangible than in Villavicencio, a flashpoint of civil war for decades.

It only takes half an hour to fly from cool Bogota in the mountains down to the edge of the wide plains of the Llanos Orientales, Colombia's tropical garden. Today a vibrant, up-and-coming regional metropolis, Villavicencio was for decades a flashpoint of conflict with FARC guerrillas.

The pope deliberately chooses this location for his call to bury hatred and revenge – between the conflicting parties in the decades-long guerrilla war, the country's ethnic groups and traditions, the sexes and also between man and nature. Citizens in the outskirts of Villavicencio have been waiting for Francis by the tens of thousands, perhaps for this very message. It is ordinary people who are more exposed to the consequences of any kind of conflict than the well-to-do.

Mass, beatification and reconciliation meeting

Francis arrives to celebrate his second major Mass after Thursday's inaugural service in Bogota. In the afternoon, a reconciliation meeting is on the agenda, separate from the Mass so as not to exclude or usurp other communities of faith. Here, the pope is also expected to hear life stories of victims of violence – teenagers recruited by guerrillas; a woman whose husband and children were murdered one by one by paramilitaries.

The church there, led by Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega, president of the Colombian Bishops' Conference, is using the papal visit to have Francis beatify two clergymen: Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve (1916-1989), who was kidnapped and shot by militias, and priest Pedro Maria Ramirez Ramos (1899-1948), one of the first victims of the guerrilla conflict.

All or nothing: This is how reconciliation works

It rained before the festive Mass. The vast grounds, which should have room for a million visitors, are softened up. Wide zones remain empty, in the end there may be 200.000 or 350.000, braving the oppressive sultriness and mud to hear Francis. Because this day is a Marian feast, the pope is taking a bit of a swing from Our Lady and her husband Joseph, whose ancestral history is as marked by shadows and injustices as Colombia's history is.

"What are the paths to reconciliation?", Francis asks, answering, "Like Mary, to say 'yes' to the whole story and not just part of it; like Joseph, to put aside passions and pride; like Jesus Christ, to invite this story upon us, to accept it, to embrace it."

The Pope chooses his words wisely

It is enough, says the Pope, if only some overcome the temptation to revenge, "to take the courage to take the first step in this direction – without waiting for the others to do it". Here many applaud, as they did shortly before when he criticized patriarchalism and chauvinism toward women.

Francis worded his homily carefully; he differentiates. Willingness to forgive does not mean hiding differences and conflicts, he said. Nor did it mean "legitimizing structural injustices," he says. "The recourse to reconciliation must not serve to submit to situations of injustice."

Calling for reconciliation everywhere

It's a striking call – because it brings together both liberation theology and its critics, such as then-Prefect of the Faith Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Perhaps not coincidentally, Francis mentions John Paul II at this point. (1978-2005); that pope who led the confrontation with liberation theology and its proximity to leftist political systems. Already on Thursday, Francis had stressed in his speech to bishops in Bogota that he wanted to be understood in continuity with the teaching of his predecessors. Not a revolutionary, then.

Francis touches on yet another reconciliation, that with nature. "It is no accident that we have also taken out our possessiveness and our desire to rule on her," he says. The department of Meta, whose capital is Villavicencio, already extends into Amazonia. That the protection of this natural and cultural space is a matter of concern to him is also made clear by Francis before the Colombian bishops when he invokes the "wisdom of the indigenous peoples of Amazonia" and appeals "to learn from them the sanctity of life and respect for nature".

At the end of the Mass, ten people from the flooded region of Mocoa introduce themselves to the Pope. A mother with two seriously ill children asks for his blessing. And at this moment, one's own hardship seems heavier than the historical dimensions of reconciliation.

60 years ago the first "birth control pill" came on the market in the USA. Millions of women worldwide still use it today – despite medical and social controversies. And despite the clear position of Catholic moral teaching.

Interviewer: There are differences even in the name: for some it is the "birth control pill," for others the "fertility pill". Which term do you think is more appropriate?

Prof. Dr. Stephan Goertz (moral theologian at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Mainz): I would use a term that does not already contain a moral valuation. The pill is a hormonal contraceptive, so you could say contraceptive pill. Of course, hardly anyone talks like that in Germany. But for ethical consideration, it's important not to smuggle judgment into language use already.

Interviewer: For the female world, the "birth control pill" meant a significant contribution to sexual self-determination and a release from the burden of unwanted pregnancies. What then was the reality for most women up to that point?

Goertz: The novelty of this form of anti-conception is that now a woman can decide for herself a relatively safe method of contraception. And unlike, for example, the use of a condom is not dependent on the will and cooperation of her partner. If one does not perceive this gain in freedom, one will never arrive at a morally just judgment. The Catholic tradition still finds it difficult to recognize women as responsible subjects of their own sexuality.

Interviewer: Now, Catholic moral teaching provides that "every conjugal act must remain intrinsically ordered towards the generation of human life", as stated in the encyclical "Humanae vitae". Why does the church take this position?

Goertz: You are right: Catholic doctrine at this point is clearly hostile to all so-called "artificial" forms of contraception. Ultimately, behind this judgment is the ancient notion that the first purpose of human sexuality is to produce and raise legitimate offspring within the context of marriage. This priority of reproduction is a law of nature to which man has to submit.

In addition, there is the old Christian devaluation of sexual desire. To those who consider sexuality as something basically unpleasant, it can be justified only in terms of procreation. The sexual pleasures of a pair of lovers were suspect to tradition. It should be remembered that church morals were formulated by men who saw their spiritual lives threatened by sexuality. You can study this well with St. Augustine.

And ultimately, the primacy of nature is also behind John Paul II's moral teaching, which is rigorous on this ie. The problem: Since Pius XII. the method of choosing time is "allowed," the biological regularity of the female cycle becomes the moral standard behind which all other aspects must take a back seat. However, it is not clear why a biological law should be more important than the question of which method is appropriate and responsible for a concrete couple in their life situation. The difference between artificial and natural methods is not humanly plausible and morally secondary.

Interviewer: On the other hand the effect on the demographic change ("Pillenknick") in many industrial nations is not to be denied. Likewise, the pill has some hormonal side effects that should not be underestimated. Is there also a moral objection here – far from the question of artificial contraception – to taking?

Goertz: I cannot understand the first part of the question: Is it meant to say that contraception and female emancipation are a moral problem because women then give birth to fewer children?? Or even because then the percentage of Catholics in the population might decrease? In the past, such thoughts have certainly moved the ecclesiastical moral teaching.

But if population policy wins out over sexual ethics, then individual human dignity is lost. Possible side effects of preparations and practices should always be considered. But to determine this is not the task of the moral theologian, but of other sciences. Considerations then have to be made socially and individually. The church has no genuine competence of its own.

Interviewer: The Catholic Church is still struggling today with its doctrine on artificial contraception, which is not uncontroversial even within the church. As a moral theologian, what solution to the conflict could you imagine??

Goertz: The vast majority of Catholics, especially the younger ones, who are most affected by the practical aspects of life, have not been wrestling with this ie for a very long time. They consider the decision about the method of contraception as a matter of their own responsibility, their own educated conscience. In this respect the topic is actually through.

The Magisterium is wrestling with the question of how to relate to a norm that has been presented with very high binding force by a number of popes as an expression of the true Catholic faith. One actually struggles less about the matter than about the question of how to find one's way out of a dead end into which one has maneuvered oneself – without wanting to turn back in the process.

As a moral theologian, I would say that if sexual ethics is formulated from the perspective of the primacy of love – there are approaches to this in the Council and in Pope Francis – it is a matter of arriving at consensual and responsible decisions that take into account the dignity and well-being of the other person(s). There is no need for more than these criteria; everything else is no longer a matter for the Church. Moral theologians have already formulated this in the sixties, for example Franz Bockle in Bonn.

The interview was conducted by Jan Hendrik Stens.

Note from the editor: On 12. October the following volume will be published: Christof Breitsameter/Stephan Goertz, On the Primacy of Love. Zeitenwende fur die katholische Sexualmoral, Verlag Herder/Freiburg 2020, 20 Euro.

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