Religion

CBA: Mr. Mansour, Islamic radicalization is a major ie. Is enough being done about it?

Mansour: A lot is being done, but it's not enough. Radicalization of youth is not just about preventing the next bomb. That's important, of course, but first and foremost we need to tackle the root cause – through prevention work. But in this area there is chaos: there is no national strategy, no clarity about what we want to fight, who could be partners in this and who is part of the problem. I miss this clarity as well as comprehensive offers and projects for long-term prevention work.

"It shocks me when people with a different skin color, different origin, different religion or different sexual orientation are attacked because they are 'different,'" Neymeyr said in response to a question from the portal catholic.de (Monday).

The Catholic bishop said he always stressed that all people must be treated as human beings and that they should not be talked about in a spiteful way. "Words quickly turn into deeds. For people of faith, moreover, every human being is a creature of God and thus a fellow creature," Neymeyr explained.

Interviewer: In Abu Dhabi, Francis has been received with great pomp. How did the Pope react?

Andreas Englisch (Author): Of course, this is insanely embarrassing for him every time and he tries to avoid it every time as well. When he went to the presidential palace, the colors of the Vatican, i.e. white and yellow, were drawn in the sky with fighter jets. This is exactly what he hates. But he has no influence on it.

Pope Benedict XVI has had a somewhat quieter week. after the exhausting Easter celebrations. In the rural tranquility of his summer residence, Castelgandolfo, south of Rome, the head of the church on Thursday celebrated his 82nd birthday. The first birthday, as always rather quietly and together with his brother Georg, who is three years older than him. Benedict XVI worked on the side. on speeches for the Middle East trip in May – one of the most difficult missions of his pontificate, which enters its fifth year on Sunday.

Provost Prelate Gerd Bachner and his cathedral © Alexander Foxius (DR)

Police at Cologne Cathedral © Maja Hitij

"There must always be free access to the cathedral," Bachner told the Cologne Review (Monday). He favors an invisible protective zone that includes an increased police presence, but does not appear "like a repulsive wall".

Volker Beck © Roland Weihrauch

CBA: You will be teaching as a guest lecturer at the Center for the Study of Religions (CERES) at the Ruhr University in Bochum in the winter semester starting this Friday. Their subject is religious policy. Did you think long and hard about accepting the offer from the University of Bochum??

Interviewer: Only 13 percent of people in the east trust the Catholic Church – in the west, the figure is 30 percent. Does this survey result surprise you??

Thomas Arnold (Director of the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen): No, it does not surprise me at all. But I am pleased that 13 percent of people in eastern Germany trust the church, although only three to four percent of people in the east belong to this church. This means that an institution is trusted, at least by people who otherwise have nothing to do with faith and the church. And on the positive side, this also means that our institution has an impact on society and is perceived as such. But of course, from 13 to 100 percent is still quite some air.
Interviewer: Can you explain why people in the East trust churches so much less than those in the West??
Arnold: In fact, there are several factors at play. A colleague once told me that the GDR had not achieved much, but that what it had achieved was to make religion and faith look ridiculous. I believe that this is an experience that has been in this region for several generations. You're just not taken seriously. There is not even a big opposition. That is one factor.

This is what she told the "Augsburger Allgemeine" newspaper. "My impression is that sex and shopping are wonderful tranquilizing drugs, so that religion simply no longer has any value in the canon of people's needs."

The lack of transmission of the faith was not only noticeable in the church, but in baptized people in general.

Press conference at the end of the fall plenary session © Julia Steinbrecht (KNA)

The amount of one-time payments to victims of sexual abuse in the church will in the future be based on judgments of state courts on compensation for pain and suffering. According to Batzing, this results in a benefit framework of up to 50.000 euros. In addition, as is already the case, victims can be reimbursed for costs of therapy or couples counseling.

"Cafe international" – that's the name of a popular board game in which players place people at cafe tables in ever-changing combinations A kind of "cafe clerical," on the other hand, was played out by six Catholic bishops this Sunday evening in Hildesheim. An experiment devised by the host diocese in the run-up to the spring plenary meeting of the German Bishops' Conference, which begins on Monday. "We do not only want to discuss in closed conference rooms among ourselves, but we want to get more directly into conversation with the people," emphasizes Hildesheim's Bishop Norbert Trelle: "They should be able to bring everything to the table that is close to their hearts."