The comments of Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner on the private life of German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer
(CSU) have met with criticism from Christian Socialists and the Greens. Bavarian state parliament president Alois Gluck said that while it was legitimate to speak out on the ie. It should be remembered, however, that "imperfection and fractures in life are also part of the Christian image of man. Criticism of Meisner also comes from the chairman of the regional committee of Catholics in Bavaria, Helmut Mangold, and the parliamentary director of the Green Party, Volker Beck, who spoke of "moralistic drooling" while the Women's Union is disappointed in Seehofer.
In the power struggle for the CSU chairmanship, the private life of German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer is increasingly becoming a topic of discussion. On Thursday, for example, critical tones came from the Women's Union because of the alleged mistress of the CSU deputy leader. Seehofer himself, meanwhile, objected to the portrayal that he had wanted to keep his failed first marriage a secret. This part of his life is common knowledge. Seehofer did not want to comment on the latest attacks by Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner. The head of the CSU parliamentary group in Berlin, Peter Ramsauer, on the other hand, indirectly called on the archbishop to show moderation. He stressed that a party "would be wary of interfering in appointment procedures of bishops or cardinals".Meisner had said about Seehofer's alleged affair: "If it's true, you have to ask: How does he want to become chairman of a Christian party?" The cardinal added: "How far have we actually come?"The deputy chairman of the CSU's constitutional commission, Georg Fahrenschon, countered, "The party and its delegates are very good at balancing the difficulties that life can hold for each of us with the demands that someone has to fulfill as party chairman."It is "not the task of a church to interfere in personnel decisions".Words of warning also came from the chairman of the regional committee of Catholics in Bavaria, Helmut Mangold. He said, "The personal lifestyle of a politician that has come under public discussion is first of all his personal business." Here, the public has not to interfere. Mangold added, however, that politicians are also judged in public by their personal lives. Therefore, they must be aware "that their credibility also depends on it".CSU politician Barbara Lanzinger of the state executive committee of the Women's Union said she did not condemn Seehofer's private life – "but voters may expect a CSU leader to match his speeches, thoughts and actions". Lanzinger added: "A debate about this must also be permissible in the current discussion about the party chairmanship.
"Greens: "morally insane drooling" The Greens reacted to Meisner's critical statement with sharp criticism. The parliamentary director of the Bundestag parliamentary group, Volker Beck, spoke on Wednesday in Berlin of "morally insensitive and self-righteous drooling". Beck spoke of denunciations that had to be rejected. The cardinal makes the decision about the CSU chairmanship also a "decision about a sexual morality of the 19. Century". Remarried divorcees and homosexuals, who are "condemned" in the Catholic Church, have the same rights and the same dignity as all human beings.
Criticism of Seehofer also from CSU spit Seehofer is also attacked from the CSU leadership. The "Passauer Neue Presse" quoted an unnamed member of the party's executive committee as saying that for many CSU voters, the agriculture minister "has now reached the edge of credibility". The question is increasingly whether Seehofer still embodies the values for which the CSU stands, despite all the liberalization in its basic program.According to CSU Secretary-General Markus Soder, there is more opposition to Seehofer's candidacy than to that of his rival, Bavaria's Economics Minister Erwin Huber. The difference was that there were not only "Huber euphorics" in the CSU, but Seehofer had real opponents.Ramsauer, however, stressed that there was "no favorite" for the CSU state group in the Bundestag. It is not the task of a parliamentary group to make a recommendation.