After controversial invitation

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Half-moon on the top of a minaret at the Ditib's central mosque in Cologne © Oliver Berg

The chairman of the Rhineland-Palatinate Islamic association Ditib, Yilmaz Yildiz, has resigned. Reason is the invitation to an meeting with the controversial Turkish historian Ahmet Simsirgil, explained the Ditib national executive committee.

About the resignation the Ditib regional executive committee informed on Sunday in Mainz. Earlier, Secretary General Necdettin Aydin, who headed the organizing committee, had announced his resignation. Simsirgil, professor of Ottoman history at Marmara University, is known for anti-Western and anti-Semitic remarks.

Ditib regional association: Resignation is necessary

"I would like to are that the opinions expressed by Mr. Simsirgil in the media do not even remotely reflect my opinion, nor the opinion of Ditib," Yildiz informed, according to Ditib. The state board thanks Yildiz for his ten years of service as chairman, but considers his resignation necessary. "Because the invitation of a person like Ahmet Simsirgil, who in his texts and statements openly agitates against people because of their ethnic, gender, religious or ideological views, can in no way be accepted."

Simsirgil defends President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's denunciation of the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women a week ago in the latest article on his website. The historian is close to Erdogan and his AKP party and has numerous followers on his social media channels.

Commitment to common value principles

In April 2020, the Rhineland-Palatinate state government signed an agreement with Ditib and three other Islamic associations with the aim of recognizing them as partners for Islamic religious instruction. In the so-called target agreement, the Islamic associations and the state commit themselves to "common values" as the basis for their cooperation. "Together they oppose any form of violence and discrimination based on ethnicity and origin, gender, religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual identity. Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and religious extremism will be resolutely fought by both sides together," the agreement states.

The Hessian state government, on the other hand, canceled Ditib's participation in Islamic instruction in the same month. Education Minister Alexander Lorz (CDU) cited continuing doubts about the organization's independence from the Turkish state under President Erdogan as the main reason. The decisive factor is the chain of command from the Turkish president via his subordinate religious authority Diyanet, the Ditib federal association and its Hessian state association.

Rhineland-Palatinate Culture Minister Konrad Wolf (SPD), however, defended the state government's ongoing talks with Ditib in May 2020. In Rhineland-Palatinate, there have so far been no activities by Ditib that are directed against the free democratic basic order. He said there was no evidence so far of Turkey interfering in the affairs of the national association, but such interference was possible. This must be ruled out so that Ditib can be considered as a partner for Islamic religious instruction.

Pope Benedict XVI. Has expressed in London his "deep regret" to victims of sexual abuse by clerics. He feels "shame and humiliation" in the face of these "indescribable crimes," the 83-year-old church leader said Saturday at a pontifical Mass in Westminster Cathedral. The consequences of the scandal should serve as a "punishment for the healing of the victims, the purification of the Church and the renewal of its age-old commitment to education and care for young people".

For the victims, he said he hopes "that the power of Christ's grace, his atoning sacrifice, may bring profound healing and peace to their lives". At the same time, the pope stressed that their suffering was caused by "the sins of a small number of priests". It remained open whether Benedict XVI. Will meet personally with abuse victims outside the official program. The mass at the seat of London Archbishop Gerard Nichols was the religious highlight of the pope's visit to the British capital.

The ceremony was attended by numerous representatives of other denominations, including the Anglican primate, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury.
The neo-Byzantine cathedral has great significance for the Catholic community's relations with the Anglican state church. Here Queen Elizabeth II., for her part head of the Anglican Church of England, in 1995 becoming the first monarch since church separation in 16. A nineteenth-century Christian participated in an ecumenical celebration at a Catholic house of worship.

Benedict XVI. placed the suffering of Christ on the cross at the center of his sermon. In the process, he paid tribute to Christians "who are suffering discrimination and persecution right now for the sake of their Christian faith". He went on to recall historical debates over sacrificial theology between the Reformation and Catholicism. In England, many had "defended the Mass steadfastly and at a high price," the pope said.

Lay people have an "indispensable role" in the Catholic Church, he stressed. He called on the faithful to work with all their strength to defend "immutable moral truths". These would be at the base of a human and just society. Church and society desperately needed "testimonies to the beauty of holiness, testimonies to the splendor of truth," the pope said. Too often, he said, the Gospel is seen as a restriction on human freedom. Instead, it is "the truth that liberates our minds" and serves both individuals and society.

Pope meets with British Prime Minister Cameron
On Saturday morning, Pope Benedict XVI was. met with British Prime Minister David Cameron for a private conversation. Following the meeting, which was scheduled to last 20 minutes at the London Archbishop's residence, the Catholic Church leader also held brief one-on-one meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Opposition Leader Harriet Harman.

Cameron had been unable to attend the pope's speech the previous evening to political, business and cultural leaders at Westminster Hall because of his father's funeral. By Queen Elizabeth II. was Benedict XVI. already received on his arrival in Edinburgh on Thursday. The four-day visit to Britain is considered a state visit.

Before the individual audiences, the government leaders and the opposition leader spoke with London Cardinal and former Archbishop Cormack Murphy-O "Connor and the acting Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Gerard Nichols, who is also president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Vesp tonight
Atmospheric highlight likely to be evening prayer with tens of thousands in London's Hyde Park. (live from 7 p.m ) The World Youth Day-style event is to mark the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890). With it ends on Sunday in Birmingham the 17. Benedict XVI's trip abroad. (live from 11 am ).

Friday's papal program focused on ecumenism and interfaith relations. Benedict XVI. Opposed the displacement of religion from the public sphere and called on believers of all religious traditions to form an alliance against growing secularization.
The Pope particularly reaffirmed the will for ecumenism with the country's Christian majority, the Anglicans. In a multicultural society, cooperation between churches is "absolutely necessary," he said during a cordial meeting with Anglican Primate Rowan Williams.
The visit was overshadowed on the second day by the arrest of six terror suspects. According to British media reports, they may have planned an attack on the head of the church. The pope was briefed, according to Vatican sources, but did not express alarm. The program continued as planned.

The pope on the fringes of latin america

Rich in opportunities, but not exactly poor in problems: In Chile and Peru, two emerging countries from his home continent of Latin America await the pope. Francis has reason enough to share some advice with them.

Interviewer: Why did the Pope choose Chile and Peru as his travel destinations??

Margit Wichelmann (Country Officer for Chile at the Catholic Latin American relief organization Adveniat): With Chile and Peru, the Pope is visiting two countries that face very great challenges, where the Church in particular faces great challenges. I can speak mainly for Chile. There, the church has long since lost the status of earlier times and faces many different problems. With his visit to both countries, the pope draws attention above all to disadvantaged population groups. In Chile, the focus is on indigenous peoples and migrants. The visit is intended to call on church and society to put people on the margins of society back at center stage.
Interviewer: Chile is a country where conservative businessman Sebastian Pinera just won elections. In the fall, abortions were partially legalized there, since 2015 same-sex partnerships are recognized. It doesn't sound like home turf for the pope – how important is the voice of the church in Chile still??
Wichelmann: You are right, the voice of the church has long since ceased to have the importance it had a few decades ago. The church has lost a lot of credibility and acceptance. It is known that at the beginning of the new millennium about 90 percent of the population still expressed great trust in the church. At the moment, that puts him at less than 40 percent. This has many causes. First, there is an overall tendency in Chile to distrust state and public institutions more and more. The church has been greatly harmed by the uncovered cases of abuse in recent years. Trust in the church has been severely shaken. This is not the only reason. The church is also no longer understood or experienced as close to the people. Moreover, it also does not seem prepared for today's times, in terms of family and so on. That is why it is a special challenge – and the Pope's visit should serve this purpose – to build closeness and understanding there and to give together a new foundation to the coexistence between Church and State. A major challenge in this context.
Interviewer: Pope Francis' trip to Chile is under the biblical motto "My peace I give to you". What does he want to say to the Chileans?
Wichelmann: The motto comes from the Gospel of John, what Jesus said at the Last Supper. It is not about a simple peace in which problems are swept under the table, but about an appeal by Francis to openly address problems in the country, to open hearts, to look beyond one's own well-being and to also take into account the concerns of those who are excluded, behind whom there is no large lobby. In this way, it should be possible to see the differences that exist in Chile between rich and poor, the different population groups as a source of enrichment and not as a disadvantage. This is a very strong message, especially in the current situation in Chile.
Interviewer: Next Wednesday, he will celebrate a service in the south of the country, in a region inhabited by the Mapuche people. This is an indigenous people who have been fighting for their tribal lands for centuries and have repeatedly come into conflict with large-scale timber and agricultural companies. At this point, does his visit also have a political message?
Wichelmann: The Pope does not see himself as a politician, but rather as a bridge builder. However, it always stands up for those who suffer hardship and have to live under injustice. The fact that he has therefore made the indigenous population of Chile and Peru the focus of his visit shows that he has a great concern for the people and sees himself on the side of the people who are afraid for their culture, their livelihoods, their land and their spirituality. He would like to strengthen the back of these people.
Interviewer: What are your expectations and those of your local church partners for the trip?
Wichelmann: I think that the expectation, both here and over there with our project partners, is that the Pope will succeed in finding words and gestures that will open doors and paths again. Ways of understanding, of commitment to one another, of moving away from entrenched opinions, of simply taking the first steps: the meeting with Mapuche representatives or with inmates of a prison in Santiago, that they are put in the center of attention. These can only be the first important signals, but the great challenge will then be to follow up the gestures and the appeal on the part of the church and society with action. There are many wonderful examples of commitment to migrants in Chile. But these are all individual activities, individual commitment. It is to be hoped that these projects will also receive support from the Pope and will find many more imitators.

The interview was conducted by Uta Vorbrodt.

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