The umbrella organization of the Protestant Churches in Germany is withdrawing from the “Week for Life” group. The German Bishops’ Conference is surprised and also disappointed.
Inhalt / Content
EKD saves again with justifications
The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) now seems to want to finally say goodbye to the ranks of the “life protectors”. As questionable as the cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church and any ecumenical movements may appear, by leaving the “Week for Life” project, the evangelical institution shows once again how true its attitude to the protection of human life is. It was already announced in mid-March 2023 that the EKD had kicked out the association “Aktion Lebensrecht für Alle” (ALfA) from this year’s church congress. After many years of presence, the umbrella organization of the evangelical churches no longer wanted to allow this organization at their event. However, no justification was given.
EKD takes another step backwards
Now the EKD will also leave the “Week for Life” circle. There are no such references on the EKD website, nor was it the case when ALfA was unloaded. Since this working group consists of cooperation with the German Bishops’ Conference, this information can only be found in the Catholic media, e.g. in Vatican News Agency Germany (CNA). Accordingly, this decision was made by the EKD last week. This event has been held annually since it was founded in 1994. A previous project of the Roman Catholic Church and the EKD. The goal is to protect human life. These include, in particular, issues such as dying and dementia.
Press spokesman Matthias Kopp told the CNA that he was disappointed with this decision. “We are sad that one of the oldest ecumenical initiatives in Germany, which has been making an important contribution to raising awareness of the value and dignity of human life for almost 30 years, is no longer relevant for the EKD.”
ALfA sees the priorities elsewhere
The Catholic magazine “Die Tagespost” asked ALfA about the exit of the EKD. Its federal chairman, Cornelia Kaminski, is relaxed about the EKD’s step. It is regrettable, but it is also “an open secret” that the Protestant Church has “represented less clear and unambiguous positions than the German Bishops’ Conference” on the subject of life protection in many questions. This was also evident in the choice of topics as part of “Week for Life”.
The big issues are in politics
While the circle from “A Week for Life” is content with niche topics, politics, science and society deal with “mega topics”, says Kaminski. This is about prenatal infanticide, assisted suicide and research on embryos. The Catholic and Protestant churches together now represent only a minority. “In such an individualized society as ours, it is no longer a matter of the majority of the population, but, as the socio-political successes of minorities show, of the quality of the arguments and the ability to campaign,” said the ALfA chairwoman.
In other words: It is not the majority that determines the direction, but those who have the media landscape, the budget and the arguments at their disposal. If the latter runs out, then censorship, exclusion, discrediting and defamation come into play. Something like this has been observed very well for years.
It could also be a gambit
One could be of the opinion that the EKD is currently taking the side of the self-confessed atheists, i.e. the godless. This is particularly interesting when one considers that the former Protestant churches have long since given up their own identity and returned to the maternal womb of Rome. This could therefore be an ingenious move within the “great game”, which is depicted e.g. in the typos in the book of Daniel chapter 11 (North King and South King). Finally, after the already successful destruction of official Protestantism, it is now also necessary to drive the people who remained within it in the desired direction. Such attitudes, which the majority disgust, fit in particularly well with this.
