Christian Kopp has been wearing the gold official cross of the Protestant regional bishop in Bavaria since Sunday. The 59-year-old took office at a celebratory service in the Lorenz Church in Nuremberg. Previously, his predecessor Heinrich Bedford-Strohm was farewell after twelve years. The presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), Ralf Meister, gave the new regional bishop Kopp words of blessing on his journey and placed the chain of office around his neck as an official sign of taking office.
In his sermon, Kopp addressed, among other things, hatred of Jews. “Shouldn’t there be a safe place for Jews anywhere in the world? That shouldn’t be the case,” said the regional bishop. “The anti-Semitism on the streets of Germany is also unbearable, especially these days. What is unbearable is that the people in Gaza and the West Bank are not allowed to lead a normal life. And now they fear for their lives,” Kopp continued.
Kopp regretted that it had become difficult to agree on something common today. “Too many people want to be right for too long and too hard.” It has become common practice to speak condescendingly and incite others from a distance. He therefore called for people to “pay attention to the language. Find good solutions through compromises.” The best thing for the city and the country can only be achieved if there is peace on both a small and a large scale.
The council chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Annette Kurschus, initially praised Bedford-Strohm’s long-standing commitment and attested to his sharp mind, a big heart and honest enthusiasm. For him, deep faith was always linked to a critical view of the world. For Bedford-Strohm, being pious and thinking politically belonged together.
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm called on his successor Kopp to seek solutions together “in times of devastation” and not to retreat. Christians have the task of “mediating between the weak and the strong”. The Christian faith, Judaism and Islam do not exist “without uncompromising commitment to one’s neighbors.”
Among those present at the service were the Catholic Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and State Parliament President Ilse Aigner. The Windsbach Boys’ Choir helped organize the celebration.
Kopp was most recently regional bishop of Munich and Upper Bavaria. At the end of March he was elected regional bishop by the regional synod – the election was a nail-biter that lasted for days. It was only in the seventh round of voting that Kopp was able to secure a sufficient majority.
The Protestant regional church has around 2.14 million members. Bavaria is strongly influenced by Catholics, but there are also significant Protestant centers, especially in Franconia. The number of people leaving both large churches has been high for years. This has financial consequences and tax revenues decrease. “We now have to think carefully about where we will invest in the future and in which areas we will no longer be as strong in the future, even though good and important work has been done,” Kopp told the dpa. “But we no longer have the opportunity to continue everything that has grown over the past decades.”