Number of extremists triples in the last five years in Germany's populous state

Number of Salafists again rises in North Rhine Westphalia

240 Dangerous - 780 violence-oriented

The number of radical Salafists in North Rhine-Westphalia has risen to 3,000 activists. At the same time, the those associated with this Islamist ideology is becoming increasingly violent, younger and female, explained NRW interior minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Thursday at the presentation of the current constitutional protection report in Düsseldorf. Thus, the number of Salafists has tripled in the last five years in the most populous state in Germany.

Of the 3,000 supporters, 780 are considered to be violent in the opinion of the security authorities. 240 of these persons are classified as so-called "vulnerable", to whom attacks are also attributed. It was especially oppressive that the Salafist scene on the Rhine and Ruhr belonged to 450 women and almost a hundred minors, Reul explained. Since 2012, NRW 250 salafists have been deployed in war zones, of which 70 are women. On a return, these people were often "highly traumatized and radicalized," Reul said.

Internet for recruitment

As a result of their increased surveillance, the Salafists, who are not centrally organized, have increasingly shifted their radicalization from the public sphere into private rooms, isolated online forums, and encrypted messenger services. The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), which is linked to ideology, mainly uses the Internet to spread its jihadist propaganda and to attract potential assassins. According to the findings of the security authorities, Jihadist attacks in Germany should always be reckoned with, said the Interior Minister.

Radicals often act without knowledge of the mosque communities

Last year the security authorities in NRW, according to official data from the population, have reached about 2,000 referals for Salafist activities. In 2013 there were only 700 such referals. Of the 850 mosques around the country, currently 90 prayer houses are currently in the sights of the constitutional protection authorities because of Islamic activities. The radicals often acted without the knowledge and willingness of local mosque communities, Burkhard Freier, the head of the NRW constitutional protection authorities. A year ago only 30 mosques were under surveillance in NRW.

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Authors of Correctio accused of dirty campaigning and in need of re-education

The Salzburg theologian, Professor Dietmar Winkler spoke up with a sharp criticism of the "filial correction", which some theologians and bishops have addressed to Pope Francis. The signatories of the "Correctio", published in several languages ​​on the Internet at the end of September, accuse the Pope of representing "heretical points of view on marriage, morals and the doctrine of the Sacraments" in his letter "Amoris laetitia" in either "direct or indirect ways". The nature of criticism reminded him very much of a "dirty campaigning" that the criticism of the pope could not be justified either, Winkler said on Tuesday at the opening of the new study year at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Salzburg.

(Cathcon: this a reference to the Austrian election campaign in the which the Socialist campaign manager has had to resign for dirty campaigning)

In terms of content, the "Correctio" is unacceptable since it "completely passes by the contemporary church and social reality," Winkler underlined. To this extent, the criticism of the Pope shows that, despite theological training and study, theological thinking and reflection even up to the level of cardinal can not be achieved by everyone", the Correctio is a "good example of a lack of hermeneutics" (Cathcon: it means "interpretation"; the Church is about truth not interpretation) and a sign that "some in our (Cathcon: no-one owns the Church) Church cannot cope with the pluralisation of real-life environments."

Winkler provided the essence of what he was saying, "One would actually have to send the signers back to study or they will remain dependent on the anti-modernism and ultra-montanism of the 19th century, but without sympathy for the Pope,"

The letter critical of the Pope, "Correctio Filalis de haeresibus propagatis" (A filial correction concerning the propagation of heresies) had diffused mainly through traditionalist blogs at the end of September. It is said that the Pope, through his document "Amoris laetitia" and other statements, has adopted heretical positions on marriage, morals and the reception of the Sacraments. At fault are the influence of modernism which relativise moral truths, as well as the influence of the "heretic" Martin Luther on the thinking of Francis.

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Full text of Pope Benedict's important statement on liturgy- newly published by La Stampa

"Nothing precedes divine worship. With these words, St. Benedict, in his Rule (43.3), established the absolute priority of divine worship over any other task of monastic life. This, even in monastic life, was not immediately taken into account because the work in agriculture and science was also an essential task for monks. Both in agriculture and in craftsmanship and in training work, there could be some demands on time that might appear more important than the liturgy. Before all this Benedict, with the priority given to the liturgy, unequivocally emphasises the priority of God Himself in our lives: "



At the hour of the Divine Office, as soon as you hear the bell, leave everything you have between hands, he cautions with utmost care "(43,1). In the consciousness of contemporary people, the things of God and thus the liturgy do not appear urgent at all. There is an urgent need for everything possible. Things of God do not seem to be urgent. Now, one might say that monastic life is in any case something different from the life of men in the world, and that is certainly right. And yet the priority of God which we have forgotten is worth it for everyone. If God is no longer important, the criteria move which establish what is important. Man and women, in setting aside God, submits himself to the constraints that make him the slave of material forces and thus opposed to his dignity. 


In the years following the Second Vatican Council, I became aware again of the priority of God and the divine liturgy. The misunderstanding of the liturgical reform that has spread widely in the Catholic Church has led to more and more emphasis on the aspect of education and its activity and creativity. The doings of men almost completely obscured the presence of God. In such a situation it became increasingly clear that the Church's existence lives in the proper celebration of the liturgy and that the Church is in danger when the primacy of God no longer appears in the liturgy and so in life. The deepest cause of the crisis that has upset the Church lies in the obscurity of God's priority in the liturgy.

All this led me to devote myself more to the theme of the liturgy than in the past because I knew that the true renewal of the liturgy is a fundamental condition for the renewal of the Church. Based on this belief, the studies that have been collected in this volume 11 of the Opera Omnia have been born. But at the bottom, albeit with all the differences, the essence of the liturgy in the East and West is unique and the same. And so I hope that this book will also help the Christians of Russia to understand in a new and better way the great gift that has been given to us in the Holy Liturgy.

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Pope Benedict speaks out from retirement. Modern liturgy "darkens" God.

Benedict XVI: Modern liturgy "darkens" God

It is one of the life themes of Benedict XVI: the Second Vatican Council and its reception. The fact that he has not finished so far is shown by his latest publication.

Five months after his 90th birthday, Benedict XVI received a retrospective ecumenical birthday present: the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion handed over a copy of the Russian edition of the Liturgy volume of the Ratzinger-Gesamtausgabe to the emeritus pope at the end of September. The volume entitled "Theology of the Liturgy" was published by the Moscow Patriarchate. And this is not the only peculiarity: Benedict XVI. himself had written the preface for the Russian edition. The Italian daily newspaper "Corriere della serra" had already published the text of the two-page text in April. But at that time he found little attention. On Wednesday the Italian daily "La Stampa" published the text again.

In it, the professorial writer writes about one of his theological life themes: the Second Vatican Council and, in his opinion, often distorted reception. The (emeritus) Pope, in the preface, is pursuing a core thesis that the deeper cause of the present crisis of the Church is the darkening of God in the liturgy. "The misunderstanding of the liturgical form, which is widespread in the Church, focuses on the aspect of submission as well as its own activity and creativity". The consequence: "The doings of men and women has certainly sent the presence of God in oblivion". The Church, however, lives from the "correct celebration of the liturgy," Benedict XVI emphasises.  If the pre-eminence of God were no longer clear in the liturgy and in life, the Church herself is in danger.

Benedict: Nothing is more preferable to worship

Pope Benedict XVI draws a pessimistic picture of the present in his text. "In the consciousness of today's people, the affairs of God and thus also the liturgy did not seem urgent," he complains. All things are urgent today, only the matter of God is not. The Pope recalls the principle of the monastic Rule of Benedict of Nursia (around 480-547) that nothing should be preferred to worship. The founder of Western monasticism had deliberately formulated this with a view to seemingly greater urgency in agriculture or science. But the priority of God does not only apply in monastic life, emphasizes Benedict XVI.

Written comments by the emeritus pope have repeatedly sparked debates in the past. His memory of the funeral of Cardinal Joachim Meisner lastly caused debates in August. Why "La Stampa" published the preface only now remained unclear.

Update:  Full text here of preface

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Jesus would accept Luther as a friend on Facebook says German bishop

If Jesus and Martin Luther were alive today, they would be on the social media, according to the convictions of the bishops, Ludwig Schick and Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. 

"I am sure Luther would be tweeting today," said Bedford-Strohm, the Bavarian Protestant Church bishop, in a joint interview with Catholic Archbishop Schick. Luther would be where the people are: "And the Internet is a place where people spend a lot of time," explained Bedford-Strohm in the interview for the "Heinrichsblatt" and the magazine "Life in the Archbishopric of Bamberg" the Evangelical Press Service (epd) reported on Wednesday.

As far as Archbishop Schick was concerned, Jesus would have a Facebook profile. "He would use all available means to spread the Good News." And, of course, he would accept a friend request from Martin Luther, said Schick. "Of course I would do that, then we would surely enter into an exciting exchange." Both bishops have a Facebook profile, on which they also regularly post.

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Church competes with wedding chapel for unbelievers

Sham packaging!

The church benches can be decorated according to the wishes of the couple. A fireplace replaces the altar.

Whoever finds weddings in a church romantic, but is not a believer, has recently found an alternative: From today onwards, the Hohenstein-Ernstthal Registry Office will be giving appointments for weddings in the new wedding chapel of Callenberg. The real church finds the competition unpleasant.

The musicians, Tino Taubert (53) and Vivienne Leis (39) had a renaissance chapel built on their site for around 850,000 euros (TAG24 reported). "We want to give bridal couples the opportunity to marry in the ambience of a church, even if they are not ecclesiastical," says Taubert.

This is precisely what Christian Luther's Protestant pastor Christian Schubert (34) finds: "It is a sign of how little the power of the church in society has become." An ecclesiastical ceremony in the godless chapel, which is possible according to builders the pastor categorically rejects: "That would be a border crossing for me."

In an interview with Domradio, the Catholic Zwickauer parish priest, Markus Böhme (41) also says: "For me, this is a kind of sham packaging. It is not in it what is conveyed from the outside ... people are deceived here."

They did not want to hurt religious feelings, stress the Tauberts. The idea was born out of her many years of experience with weddings, which she designed as a musician and free-lance speaker. The first wedding vow in the non-church chapel is to be taken in November

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