Leaders split on march for Christian West

German church leaders and politicians are divided on whether or not to dialogue with the grass- roots Pegida movement whose Monday marches in Dresden attract thousands. Polls have shown that while Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Christian West) followers include xenophobes, the majority are middle-class citizens disenchanted with their political leadership.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted Islam is part of Germany while Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned against Pegida’s “xenophobic and racist slogans”. Bishop Felix Genn of Münster has even forbidden one of his priests who joined a Pegida march to preach.
On the other hand, the Bishop of Dresden, Heiner Koch, and some leading politicians have sharply warned against ostracising Pegida. “All the pigeonholes people are trying to force the marchers into are too simple,” Bishop Koch told the Tagespost daily. Governor Stanislaw Tillich of Saxony said: “Muslims are welcome in Germany … but that does not mean Islam is part of Saxony.”