His themes are climate change, poverty and food waste. He wrote a book about the “Last Generation” and is now on trial – because of a roadblock. Who is the religious priest Jörg Alt?
On October 28, 2022, Jesuit Father Jörg Alt, megaphone in hand, gave a speech on a lane at Munich’s Karlsplatz and kept pointing the loudspeaker in the direction of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice. It is doubtful whether his message will get through there. Jörg Alt came to support and block.
He wants to support the group “Scientist Rebellion”, which draws attention to the consequences of climate change. He wants to block the four-lane road to stop the traffic and also to deliver his message to them: “Jesuits from the Global South have been alarming us for years that the climate catastrophe is already in full swing there, people are dying, suffering and becoming homeless. These Developments will increase dramatically with 99.9 percent certainty.”
Protest as a punishable coercion
Jörg Alt is 61 years old and lives in Nuremberg. As a migration sociologist and priest, he feels it is his duty to draw attention to what he calls “disasters of unimaginable proportions.” “We’re blocking roads because the political deadlock on climate protection forces us to do so,” boomed his admonishing voice from the megaphone.
Shortly thereafter, Alt and some of his comrades-in-arms sit down on the four-lane lane of the Altstadtring, just in front of the cars that are forced to stop. Nobody can get past them anymore, at least in the south everything is tight, a traffic jam forms.
The Munich public prosecutor accused the Father To have unlawfully coerced people into an act, toleration or omission by force. This is called coercion and is punishable by law.
“We must act”
When the police want to clear the blockade after 50 minutes, Alt grabs the glue. Shortly thereafter, his left hand sticks to the road. Actions like these are “there is no alternative,” says Alt, because he has not been able to use conventional means to anchor knowledge about the need for action and urgency in society and politics. “We have to take action,” he captioned the welcome text on his personal website.
“Resistance” is the name of the book he wrote about the “Last Generation”. However: All actions in which he participates must remain peaceful and non-violent. Nevertheless, in his eyes they should, indeed must, attract attention, because nobody has been listening for too long. The Jesuit priest describes his participation in announced and peaceful but unignorable actions of civil disobedience and resistance as “without alternative”. The Stachus blockade in Munich was also morally necessary and justified, he wrote to the media shortly before the trial began.
Self-disclosure because of containers
This leitmotif may have driven Jörg Alt to his first act of civil disobedience. On December 21, 2021, he fishes usable food out of garbage cans in front of supermarkets. This “container” is not allowed – if you help yourself to the waste, it has been a punishable offense so far. Alt doesn’t get caught, but turns himself in. In the letter from the public prosecutor’s office, he is accused of “particularly serious theft”, punishable under Section 243 of the Criminal Code. The religious priest must reckon with at least three months in prison.
But the public prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg-Fürth dropped the case. The reason: There is no public interest in the case. “A political decision to get rid of the highly embarrassing case,” Alt is certain.
Even more attention in the event of a conviction
In Munich on October 28, 2022, they also want to get rid of him, at least from the road. He is carried off and taken into custody after his hand is pried off the roadway with lots of foam. Today, together with the scientist Dr. Cornelia Huth and the student Luca Thomas, both of whom come from Franconia like him, stand trial before the Munich district court.
A conviction will be well considered there. Because a Jesuit priest in prison, where he could also serve a fine, would mean a lot of attention for Alt and the “Scientist Rebellion” – and not everyone begrudges the uncomfortable man with the Roman collar.