Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on the Evangelical Church in Germany to stand up resolutely for freedom and democracy whenever they come under pressure. In his greeting at the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) in Würzburg, he named concrete threats: old and new anti-Semitism, nationalism and racial hatred. In his view, the church should speak out wherever these values are under attack.
Steinmeier warned that promises of salvation could give momentum to fundamentalist, populist and extremist currents. According to him, this endangers both democracy and the church itself. The speech was a greeting and not a formal policy keynote. The Synod, the legislative body of the Protestant Church, dealt this year with the topic of democracy education, so the Federal President's message directly connected to the debate.
Democracy, the Federal President said, works through majorities that take the needs of minorities into account, and through compromise. It does not rest on an absolute truth claimed by individual groups. This idea runs through his argument: a church that stands for religious certainties must at the same time defend the rules of a plural society.
Steinmeier also expressed regret over the declining social significance of religion, saying the extent of this decline is hard to grasp. At the same time, he acknowledged the rapprochement between Catholics and Protestants, but stressed that the ecumenical dialogue still has potential for development. Earlier, in May, the Federal President had visited the Catholic Day (Katholikentag) in Würzburg, where he was likewise a guest in the region.
The Würzburg Synod concludes the six-year term of the 13th Synod. The new church parliament will constitute itself in April 2027. Synod President Anna-Nicole Heinrich will not run again. The EKD counts around 17.4 million members, a figure that underlines the church's reach in society, whose role the Federal President has just emphasized in matters of political culture.