The Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Beate Gilles, appears to be distancing herself from the conference’s rejection of the government’s asylum plans. According to the Rheinische Post, Gilles wrote a letter to the diocesan bishops stating that the conference’s approach was not coordinated with the Secretariat, particularly the accompanying letter, which generated significant media attention.
The Catholic Office also sent the statement with the accompanying text to all members of parliament and the press on Tuesday evening, Gilles added. “The majority opinion in the Permanent Council was that it is not sensible in the current situation to publicly intervene in the debate and thereby in the election campaign” Gilles wrote, recommending “to refrain from further statements.”
The statement in question rejected the government’s proposal for the “Zustrombegrenzungsgesetz” and asylum applications, calling it “not suitable to contribute to the solution of the upcoming migration policy issues.” The document was signed by Prälatin Anne Gidion and Prälat Karl Jüsten, who lead the connections of the evangelical and Catholic churches to the federal government in Berlin.