Bavarian Protestants forced to withdraw equation of Greta Thunberg with Jesus Christ

Bavaria's Bishop: Do not equate Greta with Jesus

The regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (Munich), has distanced himself from a controversial post the church made on Instagram.

The post, titled "Judas kisses Jesus" and dated 7 April (Good Friday), shows a photo of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg being carried away by police officers. The picture was taken when she protested against the eviction of the former village of Lützerath in the Rhineland lignite mining area. On the picture she is labelled "Jesus", the police officers among others "Leading Priests". A text accompanying the photo says: "A kiss. And then everything happens very quickly. That's how the capture of Jesus went at that time. And the end is known. Who would be those who take captives today?"

Regional bishop: the post was not in the spirit of the church

"Of course Jesus must not be equated with Greta Thunberg," Bedford-Strohm expressed when asked by the Protestant news agency IDEA. The association of policemen with Jesus' executioners was "out of place".

The bishop pointed out that the social media representative of the Bavarian regional church, Christoph Breit, had apologised for this in the meantime. In his view, this publicly clarified that the post had not been in the spirit of the Bavarian Regional Church. After heavy criticism in the social networks, the post had been deleted in the meantime.

The social media representative of the regional church, Breit, had admitted that the post had been a mistake. The reactions of police officers in particular had shown that they had been "hurt". "We are sorry about that," Breit wrote on Instagram.

Vice-president Stiegler: a "no-go"

Deleting the post and apologising was the only possible reaction, as the vice-president of the Bavarian state synod, retired dean Hans Stiegler (Ansbach/Mittelfranken), told IDEA. "To connect the person Greta Thunberg in any way with the redemptive action of Jesus on Good Friday, even remotely, is in my view an absolute no-go."

Jesus alone can and will redeem humanity and creation and in the end even create a new heaven and a new earth, Stiegler said. These truths must be proclaimed clearly and comprehensibly and witnessed to in this world with a joyful, holistic faith in Jesus Christ.

Previously, Andreas Späth (Windsbach/Mittelfranken), chairman of the Kirchliche Sammlung um Bibel und Bekenntnis in Bayern (KSBB) (Church Collection for Bible and Confession in Bavaria), had criticised the article to IDEA as a "tremendous blasphemous derailment". He said that the church itself was ensuring that it was no longer taken seriously as a church.

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