A pastor of the Evangelical-Methodist Congregation Pegnitz has to pay a supplement among other things. In January he saved a man from Iran from deportation. He followed his conscience, argued the cleric in the proceedings at the Bayreuth district court.
A pastor of the Methodist Church at the Bayreuth District Court has been found guilty of having granted church asylum. According to a Bayreuth judicial spokesperson, the magistrate issued a “warning with reservation of punishment” in the amount of 15 daily rates of 100 euros each on probation – because of “aiding and abetting illegal residence”. The warning means that this sentence would not be imposed if the pastor were not punished for the next two years. In addition, the pastor has to pay a probation of 1500 euros. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Pastor Stefan Schörk, who is responsible for the communities in Pegnitz and Bayreuth in Upper Franconia, was “disappointed” with the verdict. “I can’t completely hide that,” he said after the verdict. It makes him “sad that the judge won no other assessment”. In the proceedings against him, he clearly stated his Christian beliefs. As with other previous church asylum judgments by the Bavarian judiciary, the pastor now also fears “a signaling effect” that would influence future church asylum. An agreement between church and state is urgently needed, said Schörk. According to Klaus Ulrich Ruof, spokesman for the Evangelical Methodist Church, it can be assumed that the Church will appeal the judgment.
The public prosecutor’s office also apparently disagrees with the verdict. According to Martin Dippold, Chief Public Prosecutor in Bayreuth, the prosecution decided shortly after the verdict to appeal the verdict. The procedure therefore goes to the next higher instance.
Fundamental judgment on church asylum demanded
Both churches and the Bavarian local jurisdiction had already indicated in similar proceedings in the past that the question of “church asylum” was too fundamental to allow it to be clarified at the lower levels of jurisdiction. A fundamental judgment from a higher instance is expected from all sides, possibly even a judgment from the highest court. There are currently three pending proceedings in a similar case before the courts in Bavaria, including those against a Catholic nun.
In the case at hand, Pastor Schörk granted sanctuary to a man from Iran last January; he was confronted with a penalty order in the amount of 3,000 euros. According to the Evangelical Methodist Church, the well-integrated and almost fluent German-speaking man from Iran “separated from mother and sister in the middle of the Corona period” and should be deported to Greece. The 47-year-old pastor therefore “saw himself asked to act”, especially since he knew his congregation and also those responsible for the church up to the bishop and superintendent behind him. Incidentally, the church asylum granted in January in the parish building in Pegnitz in Upper Franconia was “long overdue”. Stephan Reichel, former church asylum coordinator of the regional church, current chairman of the association “matteo – Church and Asylum” and supporter of Schörk, had hoped for “an understanding judge” before the trial began.