A German bishop has called for dialogue with participants in the weekly anti-Islamisation demonstrations in Dresden, saying the protestors "feel estranged from our society and from our political leadership”.
The Bishop of Dresden, Heiner Koch, warned against ostracising members of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Christian West, or Pegida, and not listening to their grievances.
But there is a growing opposition to the marches, which have been attracting thousands since they began in October.
Bishop Koch told the German newspaper Tagespost that despite claims that the group’s members were racist and neo-Nazi, polls suggested that “only 25 per cent” of Pegida members were opposed to Islam itself.
“All the pigeonholes people are trying to force Pegida marchers into, be they xenophobic, racist or neo-Nazi, are too simple,” he said.
Many who flocked to Dresden every Monday from all over Germany “feel estranged from our society and from our political leadership,” Koch said, and added that it was a mistake not to allow people to express their worries for fear of political incorrectness.
He revealed that a group called Christians for Pegida, which included three Protestant pastors, had approached him with their concerns after several Monday marches. It was “absolutely essential” to dialogue with such people even if one disagreed with their views, the bishop said.
His views contrast sharply with those of Bishop Felix Genn of Münster, who has forbidden one of his priests who joined a Pegida march from preaching. Bishop Genn said that by joining the march Fr Paul Spätling had supported right-wing ideologies, xenophobia and a “clash of religions” and had therefore “misused his authority as a priest and pastor.”
The Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who earlier this month took part in a Muslim solidarity rally for victims of the terrorist attack in Paris, has condemned the Pegida marches and urged Germans not to participate.
But last week she called on Islam’s spiritual leaders to explain whether or not the use of violence was ever justified in Islam and said she was “fully aware” that a growing number of Germans were afraid of Islam.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier warned that Pegida’s “xenophobic and racist slogans and placards” were harming Germany’s image abroad.
But the German Vice Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, surprised Pegida followers on Friday by turning up unexpectedly in Dresden to dialogue with them. “I would not speak with organisers who move in neo-Nazi circles,” he emphasised, “But the people who go there are frustrated with politics so of course we have to talk to them”, he said.
Above: Auxiliary Bishop Matthias Heinrich of Berlin makes remarks during a 13 January vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The vigil was organized by Muslim groups for the victims of the shootings by gunmen at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly ne wspaper Charlie Hebdo. Photo: CNS photo/Fabrizio Bensch, Reuters
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