Church days used to be a home game of the peace movement. Now the highest-ranking soldier in the Bundeswehr comes onto the podium in Nuremberg. It is not the only debate with a premiere character.
The topics are on the street – sometimes they are also stuck on it. It’s about the climate crisis, about the war in Ukraine, but also about a church that is getting smaller and smaller. From the outside, not that much has changed. The Kirchentag still claims to be the campfire of the nation.
The big issues, the big names all appear in Nuremberg. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, CDU leader Friedrich Merz – they all come. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected at the start. There are also concerts and church services. A niche for everyone, for the pious and for the critical.
debate with premiere character
The President of the Kirchentag, Thomas De Maizière, wants to break this up. In Nuremberg, the General Inspector of the German Armed Forces, Carsten Breuer, discussed peace ethics with the Peace Commissioner of the Evangelical Church (EKD), Friedrich Kramer. Kramer is against German arms deliveries to Ukraine. Former defense minister de Maizière is looking forward to a debate of a premiere character. For the first time, an inspector general of the Bundeswehr has been invited to a church congress. “This is how the Kirchentag should be: lively and contentious,” says the CDU politician.
war and peace
Church days used to be a home game for the peace movement – and now the highest-ranking soldier in the Bundeswehr is coming. When it comes to war and peace, the evangelical church is at least as torn as society; it has to rewrite its peace ethic. How far can military support for Ukraine go?
The Bavarian Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm is convinced that there is a common basis for talks in Nuremberg: “All the people who are discussing there want to overcome violence. And on this basis we are discussing the question of whether arms deliveries are possible and legitimate. ” Bedford-Strohm takes a different position from the EKD peace officer and has advocated military support since the attack on Ukraine began.
Dialogue between “Last Generation” and Habeck
Similarly controversial in the Protestant Church: How far can the protest of the climate activists go? The Kirchentag relies on dialogue and brings the “last generation” onto the podium. Climate activist Carla Hinrichs discusses “responsibility and guilt in the climate crisis” with Economics Minister Habeck.
Anna-Nicole Heinrich, President of the Synod of the Evangelical Church, doesn’t just want to talk. She thinks that the church must also set an example in Nuremberg. “I hope that everyone will go out after the Kirchentag and say: Let’s make it!” A self-commitment by the church to become climate-neutral by 2030 could send out a signal, says Heinrich. “If the church can do it, everyone else won’t have any excuses either.”
Signs of life from Nuremberg
But what strength does a church suffer from consumption? The church crisis will also be a topic at this church congress: the high number of people leaving, the complex of allegations of sexualized violence.
The host, Bavaria’s Evangelical Bishop Bedford-Strohm, wants to send a sign of life from Nuremberg. At a time when the church is being attacked or declared irrelevant, it is important to feel: “A great many Christians are helping to shape Germany”.
Such a sense of community could arise right away in the evening: After the opening service, the Kirchentag celebrates a street festival in Nuremberg’s old town. Up to 200,000 people are expected to attend this “Evening of Encounters”.