Church
AfD politician dismissed from church committee
Christoph Schaufert (r.) in conversation with a party colleague (archive photo). photo
© Oliver Dietze/dpa
An AfD member of the state parliament is no longer allowed to sit on the administrative board of a Catholic parish in Saarland. The diocese says it damages the credibility of the church.
Because of his activities in the AfD, a Saarland politician has been dismissed from a church committee in the diocese of Trier.
The AfD member of the state parliament Christoph Schaufert is “no longer acceptable” as a member of the administrative board of the Catholic parish of St. Marien in Neunkirchen in Saarland, said Vicar General Ulrich von Plettenberg in Trier. There is no longer any basis of trust for participation in church volunteer work: in a personal conversation, Schaufert did not want to distance himself from various positions of the AfD and wanted to hold on to his positions in the party.
“Ethnic nationalism and Christianity are incompatible”
Von Plettenberg said that the content of his decision was primarily influenced by the declaration of the German bishops “Ethnic nationalism and Christianity are incompatible” from February 2024. “Parties that are right-wing extremist or that thrive on the fringes of this ideology cannot be a place of political activity for us Christians,” said von Plettenberg.
As the “face of a party that represents attitudes that contradict the Christian view of humanity,” Schaufert is damaging the credibility of the church. The vicar general said he was dismissed from his position as a member of the board of directors with immediate effect and “until further notice, he will no longer be eligible for such an office.”
“There has been a loss of trust that appears irreparable”
With his decision, he approved the parish’s application. At the end of February, the local administrative board and the parish council asked von Plettenberg to examine the exclusion of Schaufert. The reason given was that membership in a church body was not compatible with a representative role in the AfD. There has been “a loss of trust that appears irreparable.”
Schaufert (55) sits as deputy parliamentary group leader of the AfD in the Saarland state parliament. According to the Diocese of Trier, he can lodge an appeal against the Vicar General’s decision within ten days with the Bishop of Trier as Ordinary and finally with the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome.