Head of Protestants in Germany tells Catholic Church to change

Kurschus regrets no to ordination of women among Catholics

"It makes no sense to me"

The Chairwoman of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany regrets that the Catholic Church rules out ordaining women as priests. In an interview, she also explains why she will not participate in the Easter marches.

Annette Kurschus told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Saturday) that they were "pleasantly open in conversation with each other" and shared a "common responsibility as Christians in an increasingly complex world". The EKD Council Chairwoman added: "That's where closeness and trust grow."

At the same time, Kurschus said: "I do not understand and it really pains me that the Catholic Church does not ordain women as priests. She said that she perceives that the Catholic Church "does not practise real participation in leadership. We are also not yet as one on the way to inviting each other to communion."

A different way of expressing peace

Kurschus does not want to participate in Easter marches this year. She told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Saturday), "I have another way of bringing my longing for peace to the streets. I celebrate church services and will put my laments and petitions and hopes to God."

However, Kurschus added that she supports the participants of the marches who demonstrate for peace. "The loud call for peace must not be silenced." However, she expected the organisers to "not offer right-wing populists and extremists a podium, to not give them the right to speak and to react if, for example, they should see flags with a Z".

Kurschus added that "the call for negotiations must not be dismissed as naïve at any time". People who took to the streets for peace at Easter did not want to win a war, but peace. "Without talks, without negotiations, there can be no peace," said the Council President. "However, they must be negotiations "at eye level". And such negotiations can only be laboriously negotiated."

Around 70 Easter marches of the peace movement on Holy Saturday

This Saturday, people in Germany will take to the streets for peace and disarmament at around 70 Easter marches. Holy Saturday is the focus of this year's activities of the peace movement at Easter. The organisers expect a lively turnout. A central topic is the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. According to the Netzwerk Friedenskooperative, which bundles information on the actions, the first Easter marches on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were successful.

"Staying in the track of Jesus"

The Pope only looks into the eyes of allies

While former EKD Council Chair, Margot Käßmann continues to call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, current Chair Kurschus defends the different positions in the church. "It has always been part of the self-image of Protestants not to want to tell others what is wrong and right. We are not an agency of Christian values."

Allegedly Christian values can be "exploited and beaten around the ears" of others. The same applies to Bible quotations taken out of context, he said. "That is not our task. Our task is to stay in the track of Jesus," Kurschus said. "This is rarely so clear that very clear instructions for action can be derived from it. We cannot serve with recipes for action if we want to remain honest." It is always about protecting life and taking a clear stand for the marginalised and the underfed. "From this fundamental orientation, Christians come to different practical conclusions."

There will be Easter marches again this weekend in around 100 German cities. The organisers expect several 10,000 participants.

Shocked by violence among youth

Speaking to the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe (Saturday), Kurschus expressed concern about brutalisation and increasing violence by young people. "The climate in our society is increasingly changing," Kurschus said. "Criticism suddenly turns into sheer hatred, contemptuous words become violent acts in no time. That is frightening."

In contrast, she does not consider a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility to be a suitable means. "This is not about the sentence, because that would make it too easy," said the theologian. "That is not the way to solve the problem. What is needed here is probably deeper research into possible causes."

The number of people who do not feel seen, appreciated and recognised enough is growing, as is the number of those who, out of this lack of attention, "lash out and rage against others", said the President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia. Quarrels and competition are being carried out in ever more perfidious ways.

"A worrying phenomenon".

The brutalisation among young people is "a worrying phenomenon", Kurschus said with regard to cases of violence among adolescents such as in Freudenberg. "What particularly shocks me about these cases is that there were apparently no natural inhibition thresholds here at all. It's incomprehensible to me."

The search for explanations is like poking in the fog, the EKD chairwoman admitted. But she suspects a connection to social networks. "The countless images of cruelty and violence that are increasingly consumed as a matter of course by young people - especially on the net and via social media channels - will probably play a role in this." Violence is becoming more commonplace. "It's deadening."

Social media are "in many ways a huge benefit, in some even a real blessing", Kurschus explained. But they also have pitfalls. The theologian appealed to society to react to this deadening with "care and attention and love. This is especially true for children and young people.

Source

Cathcon: Given the schismatic nature of the German Church, it will not be long before inter-communion is accepted by the Synodalists.