Persecution of Christians in refugee camps swept under carpet, says Lutheran pastor

Church leaders must face up to the fact that Christians in refugee camps in Germany are being persecuted, according to a Lutheran pastor.

 

The Revd Gottfried Martens said that the persecution must be confronted and accused the Churches of not wanting to address the problem for fear of giving the impression that there is a connection between Islam and violence.

 

Martens, of the Lutheran Dreieinigkeits Gemeinde (Trinity Community) in Berlin, told the Austrian internet portal kath.net on 4 January that the persecution of Christians in refugee camps in Germany was increasing.

 

Asked why the Churches were against providing separate housing for Christians in danger of being persecuted for their faith, Martens said it had become impossible even to address the problem. “One cannot even bring up the issue as it might give the impression that there is perhaps a connection between Islam and violence and that is a subject that may on no account be discussed.” 

 

The mayor of Berlin had been asked if there was a possibility of finding separate accommodation for endangered Christians and had said that such accommodation could “immediately” be provided if the Churches wished, Martens recalled. “But the Churches were against separating Christians and Muslims on the grounds that it would signal that members of different religions could not live together peacefully”. 

 

Martens said the tenor of the statement on possible Christian persecution in the camps published jointly by the Catholic and Protestant Churches in July 2016 was that there were possibly individual cases of persecution but not in church accommodation. However, Martens said he knew of church camps where Christians had been persecuted, but “the Churches simply want to sit the problem out”. 

 

“We will only remain an open country if we address problems openly. If we sweep them under the carpet, they will only catch up with us at a later date,” he said.

 

The gospel message of God’s closeness and love for us in the person of Jesus Christ was especially attractive for many people with Muslim roots, and most particularly the Christmas message of the Incarnation, he explained. God was seen as immensely great but distant in Islam and fear of hell played a big part in the education of children, he said. Thus, when his would-be converts heard of the Incarnation, some of them burst into tears.  

 

Martens has baptised more than 1,000 converts from Islam since 2011.