Protestant Leaders Warn of AfD Victory in Saxony-Anhalt

5:05 AM ETDeveloping

Faith Desk

In Short: Protestant and Catholic leaders in Saxony-Anhalt have expressed grave concerns over the Alternative for Germany's (AfD) landslide victory in the state election, urging the new winners to respect the state constitution and uphold the dignity of all people.

According to an analysis by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, a polling institute in Mannheim, the AfD gained 43.8% of the vote overall, with 47% among the religiously unaffiliated, compared to 32% among Catholics and 33% among Protestants. The analysis also showed that 37% of Catholic men and 38% of Protestant men voted for the AfD, compared to just 26% of Catholic women and 29% of Protestant women.

The Christian leaders in Saxony-Anhalt have called on the election winners to respect the state constitution and the Basic Law, and to uphold the dignity of all people regardless of their origin, religion, way of life, achievements, or position. The state has one of Germany's highest unemployment rates and is experiencing significant demographic decline, with deaths far outnumbering births and younger people continuing to leave the state.

What's still developing

Bishop Heiner Wilmer joined Protestant and ecumenical officials Monday in declaring that “grave fears have become reality” following the Alternative for Germany’s landslide victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election.
The chairman of the German bishops’ conference issued a joint statement with Bishop Kirsten Fehrs, leader of the Protestant Church in Germany, and the Rev. Christopher Easthill, chairman of the Association of Christian Churches in Germany, noting that the AfD was “by a clear margin the strongest party” in the eastern state following the Sept. 6 vote.
Although the AfD came well ahead of the CDU, which has governed Saxony-Anhalt since 2002, winning 39 of the state parliament’s 83 seats, it fell short of the 42 seats required for a majority.
Church leaders in Saxony-Anhalt issued a joint statement Sept. 7 expressing “great concern” at the election result.
“This state election has profoundly changed the political landscape in Saxony-Anhalt,” said the statement signed by Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, Bishop Friedrich Kramer, head of the Protestant Church in Central Germany, and Karsten Georg Wolkenhauer, president of the Evangelical Church of Anhalt.
The AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch said in its July manifesto that if it took power it would seek to revise the system of state payments to Germany’s largest religious bodies, including the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in Germany.
In 2023, Saxony-Anhalt’s domestic intelligence agency classified the AfD’s state branch as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization.

Sources

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