Examine the sources of Islamist violence, says Jaschke

All religious leaders, regardless of their religion, must protest loudly against violence, auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke of Hamburg, told a “Violence in Islam” conference last week.

Representing the Catholic Church at a nationwide “Round Table of Religions” in Berlin, he pointed out that Christians were being murdered and driven out of areas they had lived in and had helped to build up “long before Muslims arrived”.

“We must never forget to bring that up in Christian-Muslim dialogue,” Bishop Jaschke said. It was true, the bishop said, that Muslims in the worst areas of conflict today were also affected. But there was no denying, he added, that the perpetrators, despite their errant views, were nevertheless from the Islamic world.

“Terrorist groups like IS and Boko Haram are a disgrace in the eyes of every decent human being! They are something that should mortify the entire human world,” Bishop Jaschke said.

It was essential to discuss those suras (chapters) in the Qur’an that speak of violence, he said. “We are now hearing from some Muslim leaders that according to Muhammad these suras do not incite violence. This means that Qur’an research is progressing and that is a good thing. But we must remain on the alert to terrorists who say that they are acting in the name of Islam,” Bishop Jaschke insisted.

n The German Constitutional Court has overturned its 2003 headscarf ban for women teachers at state schools, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

The judges came to the decision that a blanket ban was not compatible with religious freedom. In future a headscarf ban would only be justified if there was “not only an abstract but a concrete” danger that the fact that the teacher was wearing a headscarf disturbed the peace, the judges ruled. Germany’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the court’s decision. It was a “strong signal for religious freedom”, bishops’ conference secretary, Fr Hans Langendörfer, said.

The Muslim Central Council (ZMD) also welcomed the ruling  as “a step in the right direction”.