Man with an AfD cap © Sebastian Willnow
Young Catholics oppose AfD's possible presence on podiums at Ecumenical Church Congress in Frankfurt. The Federation of German Catholic Youth announced this in a resolution.
Those responsible should not give the party "a platform on public podiums and for the presentation of their own positions, which are contrary to our Christian convictions," said the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) in a resolution of its recent main committee. This applies especially to the invitation of AfD representatives in the context of discussion rounds and events. The oKT will take place from 12. until the 16. May 2021 held in Frankfurt.
The BDKJ also opposes the participation of organizations that belong to the extreme right or are close to it. "We demand a consistent stance here that is not dependent on the governing body of the oKT," the resolution reads. This attitude of the federation applies beyond that to all coming Katholiken and ecumenical church days. Already in the run-up to the Katholikentag 2018 in Munster, the BDKJ had campaigned against an invitation by the AfD's spokesman on religious policy.
Take the motto of the Ecumenical Church Day "Look" seriously
It is the task of Christians to "clearly and unambiguously position themselves against group-related misanthropy" and to take the motto of the oKT "Look" seriously, the BDKJ emphasized. The federation spoke out at the same time for a discussion with the strategies of the AfD and the extreme right in general. Right-wing populists wanted to shift discourse further to the right and were working towards "extreme right-wing views becoming the conservative or bourgeois mainstream in the pre-political and eventually parliamentary space".
Thereby the AfD is an "important element", explained the federation. "The fact that the AfD is already represented in all state parliaments and in the Bundestag does not justify in this respect to abandon our commitment against extreme right-wing, populist and human dignity attacking positions."The BDKJ also emphasized that there are Christians who are supporters of the AfD or populist or extreme right-wing opinions. At the oKT, one wants to enter into a "courageous" discussion with them and make clear "why sexist, populist, inhuman attitudes" cannot go hand in hand with convictions as Christians.