Munich Cardinal Calls on Church to Defend Western Democracy

Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich has declared that the Church must today defend Western modernity and democracy, even though it has often come into conflict with them in the past. Speaking at Catholic Day in Würzburg, he described it as paradoxical that after centuries of struggle the Church now finds itself on the side of those defending the Western democratic model.

Social ethicist Marianne Heimbach-Steins reminded the audience that the Church remains a "great construction site" despite progress on democracy, and that society needs to redefine what democracy means and what kind of political coexistence it wants to build for the future.

Marx stressed that the Church cannot say "what God thinks", but that it can raise the issues presented by the Gospel and bring ethical perspectives that would otherwise remain on the margins of public debate.

The cardinal also addressed the protection of life and rejected calls to make abortion the subject of an intra-church dispute. He stressed that the protection of unborn life can only be promoted "with women, not against them".

(katholisch, bak)