No one can foresee how many refugees from Ukraine the war will drive to Germany. According to the Baden state bishop, the churches play an important role in the admission process. On the other hand, another topic makes her more and more at a loss.
Karlsruhe (dpa/lsw) – The war in Ukraine is increasingly presenting the church with challenges when it comes to arms deliveries, from the point of view of the Protestant state bishop in Baden. The assessment is becoming more and more difficult, said Heike Springhart on Monday evening in Karlsruhe. In the long term, this will not end the war and create peace. “We’re experiencing that.” It is unpredictable what will happen in the medium term with the increasing armament.
However, the church must make it clear that it does not have the ultimate solution, but is faced with a dilemma. “Regardless of whether we deliver or not, we will be guilty,” said Springhart. The situation is so complex that it sometimes makes you perplexed. That doesn’t mean to sit back and relax, she stressed. But from their point of view, the church should “formulate less chubby”. Politicians have the challenge that they have to make the decisions. This is associated with the risk of being able to fail tragically.
At its autumn conference in October, the Baden state synod, the church parliament, passed a declaration on peace ethics in light of the Russian war of aggression. It says: “Our task as a church is to do everything in our power to keep channels of communication open in times of crisis, to strengthen the backs of those who are struggling for peaceful solutions, to provide concrete humanitarian aid, to provide traumatized people and refugees with safe spaces and to grant refuge and thus prepare the ground for seeking and finding ways of reconciliation.”
According to Springhart, the church and diaconia must ensure that people who come to Germany are well received and integrated. But groups of refugees shouldn’t be played off against each other, she warned – “that we don’t have first-class and second-class refugees.” It is a big challenge to stay together as a society.
